Operation Passage To Freedom - Communist Prevention of Emigration

Communist Prevention of Emigration

Along with counter-propaganda, the Viet Minh also sought to detain or otherwise prevent would-be refugees from leaving. As the American and French military personnel were only present in the major cities and at air bases and on the waterfront, the communists tried to stop people from trying to leave through a military presence in the ruralside to interdict the flow of would-be refugees. The communists were most effective in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa Provinces, which they had long controlled; only 20% of Catholics in Thanh Hoa migrated. In parts of the Red River Delta, ferry services and other water traffic were shut down so that refugees would not be able to travel to Haiphong. In some cases there were reports of thousands-strong groups of refugees being forced back by similar numbers of armed communist cadres. As a result, many refugees headed directly for the nearest coastal point to wait for passing vessels. In one sweep of the coast near the Catholic stronghold of Phat Diem, the French Navy picked up 42,000 stranded refugees in two days. The VNA also swept the area in late 1954 for two days, picking up several thousand refugees, but increasing communist attacks forced them to stop. In some rural coastal areas where it was common for refugees to converge before boarding vessels to connect to the long-distance naval vessels taking them south, the Viet Minh installed mortars on the beaches to deter prospective immigrants.

They prohibited mass gatherings in an attempt to stop entire villages or other large groups of people from emigrating together, and also isolated people who sold their water buffalo and other belongings, as this was a clear sign that they intended to end their farming. Both the Americans and the South Vietnamese lodged complaints to the International Control Commission about the violations of the Geneva Accords, but little action was taken. According to B. S. M. Murti, the Indian representative on the ICC, the communists did not try to stop the refugees at first, but increased their efforts over time as it became clearer that large proportions of the population wanted to emigrate.