As the Vietnam War escalated and intensified, the international community's assistance to Vietnamese refugees expanded from providing humanitarian aid to helping them resettle and start new lives abroad. In response to the Catholic relief service's call, Caritas established a Refugee Service team to assist Vietnamese refugees. In the same year, Caritas also took over the management of a refugee camp for the first time - the Kai Tak East Transit Centre.

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The goal of Caritas' Vietnamese Refugee Service was to assist eligible refugees in resettling overseas and establishing themselves in Hong Kong. They also provided various services at the Vietnamese refugee detention centres to help address the social and psychological issues faced by boat people and cater to their educational needs. In April 1989, Caritas was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to assess financially disadvantaged refugees and provide financial assistance.