OTTAWA—Forty years ago on April 30, 1975, Republic of South Vietnam president Duong Van Minh surrendered Saigon to the communist North Vietnamese forces. Although the act ended 30 years of war, it also ended democracy and human rights for the Vietnamese people.
Despite the new peace, citizens throughout South Vietnam fled the country in droves as soon as they could, seeking freedom from repression. Many were welcomed in Canada as refugees
The date resonates on many levels in the Vietnamese populace both at home and in Canada, as it meant the loss of their country and the beginning of hardship under the new regime as thousands were arrested and imprisoned in re-education camps.
We felt we lost everything, even our souls.
