Phú Quốc Prison

10°02′38″N 104°01′05″E / 10.043948°N 104.018179°E / 10.043948; 104.018179

South Vietnamese military prison and POW camp during Vietnam war

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Phú Quốc Prison
Camp barracks in November 1968
Coordinates	10°02′38″N 104°01′05″E / 10.043948°N 104.018179°E / 10.043948; 104.018179 (Phú Quốc Prison)
Site information
Controlled by	Army of the Republic of Vietnam
Condition	abandoned
Site history
In use	1949–1975

Phu Quoc Prison (Vietnamese: Nhà tù Phú Quốc also known as An Thoi POW Camp) was a military prison in Phú Quốc, southern Vietnam (today it is in Kiên Giang Province).

History

The prison was built in 1949–1950 by French colonialists as a place to detain political dissidents.

During the Vietnam War, it was used for detention of captured Viet Cong and North Vietnamese soldiers. The prison covered an area of 40,000 square metres (0.015 sq mi). During the Tet Offensive in early 1968, 2,665 POWs escaped after attacking the fenceline, few of them were recaptured. The Vietcong shelled or attacked the camp 34 times in 1968.^[1]^: 240

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) teams visited Phu Quoc Prison in 1969^[2] and 1972.^[3] The ICRC found that many POWs showed signs of inadequate food supplies, poor medical care and physical beatings.^[1]^: 241

The prison was closed after the Fall of Saigon in April 1975.

It is ranked as a special historical relic of national significance by the government of Vietnam and is now a museum.

References

^ ^a ^b Springer, Paul Joseph (2006). American prisoner of war policy and practice from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror (PDF). [Texas A & M University]. OCLC 74172561. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 26, 2022.
^ International Review of the Red Cross, March 1969, 9th year, No 96., p. 130
^ International Review of the Red Cross, December 1972, 12th year, No. 141, p. 658