The deputy-prime-minister dedicated the national monument to the memories of the estimated 4,000 Vietnamese rebels who had perished in the prison. He further stated that it would be a lasting monument to the fight against colonialist repression and the struggle for national freedom.
Vu Van Ninh noted that preserving the complex for posterity would help younger and coming generations to understand the hardships their ancestors had faced in throwing off the shackles of colonialism. The dedication ceremony was followed by a themed speech on safeguarding national sovereignty in which the deputy PM urged all Vietnamese to protect and expound national values.
Phu Quoc prison dates from the late 1940s and many anti French and South Vietnam communist rebels were incarcerated here during the Vietnam War. Local media reported that about 600 of the gaol’s former inmates attended the ceremony.
Vietnam island jail garners heritage status
News in Asia
A former French colonial prison on Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island has been given a new lease of life as a national monument. Deputy-prime-minister Vu Van Ninh headed up a group of dignitaries at the ceremony held last Friday to celebrate the prison’s new-found status.