Safe-conduct pass

During the Vietnam War (1962–75), the South Vietnamese government actively encouraged enemy fighters to defect. The defection program was known as Chiêu Hồi, or ‘open arms’. Safe conduct passes were widely distributed as part of psychological warfare operations by South Vietnamese, American, Australian and other allied forces.

The Chiêu Hồi program was suggested to the South Vietnamese government by Sir Robert Thompson, who had been sent to Vietnam by the British government to provide advice on anti-insurgent strategy. Thompson had been involved with the successful defeat of the Communist insurrection in the Malayan Emergency (1948–61) and suggested ways in which the lessons learned in Malaya could be applied in Vietnam.

The intention was that members of the Viet Cong would find the safe conduct passes and understand that they could surrender without coming to harm. The flags of the different nationalities fighting on the South Vietnamese government’s side, along with the multilingual text, were intended to convey that the promise of safety bound all countries’ forces.

Having surrendered, former Viet Cong members were retrained in special Chiêu Hồi Centres, and many enlisted in the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN). Some 150,000 enemy soldiers defected under the program.

Safe conduct passes were dropped by air over known Viet Cong-controlled areas. An Australian soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Alf Argent, collected these passes. He served in Vietnam as a Cessna pilot for two years, while on secondment to the United States Army.