Operation Passage to Freedom

Operation Passage to Freedom was a large-scale effort between 1954 and 1955 to relocate Vietnamese people from North Vietnam to South Vietnam, following the country’s division after the First Indochina War. Sponsored mainly by the United States and France, it involved transporting thousands of refugees—many Catholic—by boats and ships across the Gulf of Tonkin. The operation aimed to help those fleeing communist rule find safety and rebuild their lives in South Vietnam. It was one of the largest mass movements of refugees in modern history and played a significant role in shaping post-war Vietnam.