Reeducation Camp - Historical Background

Historical Background

After the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese men, from former officers in the armed forces (like the ARVN), to religious leaders, to employees of the Americans or the old government, were rounded up in reeducation camps to "learn about the ways of the new government." They were never tried or convicted of any crime. Many South Vietnamese men chose to flee on boats, but others had established lives in Vietnam, so did not flee but entered these camps in hopes of quickly reconciling with the new government and continuing their lives.

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