Brief:
2025 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, also known as The ‘Invasion of The Republic of Vietnam’.
The beginning of communist rule in Vietnam on 30th April 1975, had disastrous ramifications for Vietnamese people:
- The number of prisoners sent to re-education camps was estimated to be from 500,000 to one million people, with many experiencing torture, disease, starvation and suicide;
- The 'Invasion of The Republic of Vietnam' created a humanitarian and refugee crisis with millions of people displaced into neighbouring countries and across the world. Many died or disappeared, and those who survived faced years in refugee camps before being resettled in third countries;
- In addition, approximately 280 Vietnamese orphans from Operation Babylift were relocated to Australia, with around 200 of them being adopted into South Australian families;

The Program is a work-in-progress:
This event will acknowledge the significant pain, and distress still felt by the South Australian Vietnamese community, many of whom directly experienced these traumatic events, or are descendants of those who suffered through both the war and the long, dangerous journey to our shores;

This event will share refugee stories about the significant contribution that Vietnamese South Australians have made to our state in the decades since these events, overcoming the many challenges posed by the legacy of communist occupation, with the signature determination, grit and optimism we have come to recognise in our Vietnamese Community in South Australia.