Cailao
| National Program of Reform Through Labor | |
|---|---|
 Rồng Xanh Labor Camp | |
| Location | Nainan |
| Date | 1959-1990 |
| Target | Political opponents, ethnic minorities, religious minorities, foreigners, women |
Attack type | Ethnic cleansing, politicide, genocide, forced labor, forced education, forced relocation, religious persecution, forced prostitution |
| Deaths | 200,000-1,200,000 |
| Perpetrators | People's Army of Solidary and Longevity, Van Dieu, Ministry of Public Security |
| Motive | Modernisation, internal stability, and re-education |
The National Program of Reform Through Labor (章程改革國家樁戈勞動; Chương trình Cải cách Quốc gia Thông qua Lao động), shortened as the Cailao (革勞), was a three-decade program of modernization, penal punishment, and re-education in Nainan started during the Nainese Civil War and ending in 1990 as a part of political reform. It was made for the purpose of modernizing the country and reforming political dissidents through labor camps and re-education. It would use means of forced labor, genocide, politicide, religious persecution, forced relocation, and forced prostitution. It targeted groups like political groups such as socialists, liberals, monarchists, and reformists. It also targeted minority groups such as the Nyaram, Danok, Ryo, and Makhao Kasi. It targeted religious minorities such as Sotirians, Irfan, and new religious movements. It would create camps such as labor camps, re-education camps, and pleasure camps. By the end of the program in 1990 the country had economically rose in status in Coius, however estimates of up to one million died due to the program. It is considered a genocide in many states around the world, while in Nainan it is considered to be a successful campaign.
Background
Civil War
Nainan was ruled for nearly a century by Werania, it was apart of the High Commissariat of the Coral Sea, it would be industrialized somewhat, and much of it's resources were sent out of the country during colonial rule. The Kingdom of Nainan would gain independence peacefull in 1953, Werania would still have much political and economic influence on the country, with companies and advisors remaining. The Nainan People's Solidarity and Longevity was founded in 1955 by Hoàng Viện Trai, with the goal of further separating themselves from Weranian influence. Socialist movements apart of the Nainese Section of the Workers' International were gaining popularity as well as the NPSL, in 1956 the Nainese Civil War broke out, the monarchy was overthrown and the country left between the nationalists of the NPSL and socialists of the NSWI. Both factions had already begun plans to modernize Nainan after their victory, and during the war in both the Harmonious Republic and People's Republic were public housing built.
The war was mostly a stalemate until around 1961, but during the stalemate the NPSL began their program to modernize the country and re-education political prisoners. General Nguyễn Minh Trí was the chief proponant of this plan which would begin to used in POW camps for socialist forces captured by the nationalists.
POW camps
The nationalist forces would begin to use POW as sites for testing future plans for modernization and penal systems. During the war many socialists were captured, especially towards the end of the war. Many were executed during the war.
POW camps would become used for forced labor, as part of a promise for prisoners to be used in exchanges, they had to built entire camps themselves to get that opportunity. The camps would also be used for the begin of re-education programs, with the goal of enforcement the ideology of Tự Ý Chí. Nguyễn Minh Trí would say that "prisoners are war are toughened, they are able to withstand much. To test what we plan for the future of Nainan this war has given us an opportunity."
Early campaign
Labor camps
Many POW camps would be expanded after the end of the civil war and became penal labor camps for political opponents and those deemed as enemies of the regime. These camps would use the idea of "Reform through labor" (改革樁戈勞動; Cải cách Thông qua Lao động), where the abbrevation "Cailao" is derived from. The official name of these camps are "Place of Custody" (尼𪾋𪧚; Nơi giam giữ).The tasks given to people sent to these camps included farming, sewing, manufacturing, building, and landscaping. These camps became known as for the use of violence towards their prisoners, they were nicknamed "hell prisons" by a defector guard from one of the prisons. During the 60s and 70s it is said that the death rate for those imprisoned in these camps was around 30% to 45%, as conditions were considered poor.
The actual number of labor camps in Nainan is unknown, there were estimated possibly around 300 labor camps at the program's height in the 1970s. The largest and most infamous of these prisons was Rồng Xanh Labor Camp, where it is said that over 10,000 were imprisoned. The Van Dieu play a major part in running these camps. They continue to exist today, on a much smaller scale.
Re-education camps
Alongside the labor camps in Nainan, there were re-education facilities built by the regime meant to indoctrinate, get forced confessions, and teach Nainese culture to minority groups. These were known as Re-education Camps (豸改造; Trại Cải Tạo). Here the Ministry of Education and Van Dieu would force the ideology of Nainan on political dissidents, through means of torture, gaslighting, or daily classes.
Around 500 re-education camps are said to have been built at the height of the Cailao program. Political prisoners would be forced to learn the national ideology of Tự Ý Chí, history of Nainan, and punishments for those who do not accent the ideology. Minority groups would be forced to learn the Nainese language, customs, and religious teachings. This included being given new names, new clothes, and being forced to do Nainese religious practices. Conditions in these camps were about as poor as labor camps, and in some cases worse, with deaths being fairly common.
Relocation
As part of creating "a modernized nation" and "larger Nainese nation" many ethnic minorities would be displaced by the government and moved into cities or different areas than before. These included groups those like the Nyaram, Ryo, Danok, Makhao Kasi, Kasine, Khiang, Siakay, and Choeku. The Khiang, Siakay, and Choeku would be targeted early on, with the goal of populating urban centers for expansion and urbanisation. The larger minority groups like the Nyaram, Ryo, Danok, and Makhao Kasi would be targeted later on, These groups were mainly pushed further inland to make room for new, fully Nainese settlements.
Over 4,000,000 are estimated to have been relocated as a part of the Cailao program. Many cities would grow from this relocation, including Trinhieu, Giáo Điện, Hang Nhài, Rêu Sơn, and Jowkmat. These relocations were perilous and resulted in deaths of those being relocated. It is estimated around 200,000 died during these treks.
Height of campaign
Construction
The government wanted their new cities to be modernised, and would build entire housing districts and new infrastructure throughout the 1970s. They would begin a "post-war reconstruction" program to rebuild areas destroyed by the Civil War. The government would use the thousands imprisoned as part of the Cailao for construction and labor. They would be used in mines, farms, and logging sites to extract materials for use in building Nainan. Despite this, much of the material used in Nainan to rebuild was provided by Shangea. The government would also use the labor as construction workers on sites for repairing infrastructure and areas damaged by the Civil War.
The workers were not given pay and worked in poor conditions during this reconstruction. It is estimated that over 40,000 homes were built using prison labor during the Cailao. The program's use of prisoner labor would give an opportunity for prisoners to have their sentences shortened if they worked hard enough.
Religious persecution
The government would begin to target religious minorities, notably the faiths of Irfan and Sotirianity, at the height of the Cailao there were reportly over 100,000 Sotirians and Irfanics imprisoned in re-education and labor camps. Sotirianity Worldwide claims that there were reports of Sotirians being held and tortured by the Van Dieu during the Cailao. Some of the Sotirians that were arrested are alleged to be as young as six year old. Many Irfanic minorities were deported to Shangea and subsequently to Zorasan.
During the height of the program it is stated that religious minorities, especially Sotirians, were targeted by the government as being "Euclean spies" and many were executed by the government of Nainan. In 1984 a group of Catholic monks were executed by the Nainese government with claims they were working with Werania and the Catholic Church to subvert the NPSL, they are today recognized by the Solarian Catholic Church as martyrs of the faith. From 1970 to 1989 the Holy Bible was banned by the government of Nainan and owning one was met with being sent to a camp.
Pleasure camps and forced prostitution
The Cailao also created a program in which female political prisoners were sent to Pleasure Camps, where they would provide sexual services and have children for the purpose of creating another generation to be educated into becoming Nainese, these children would be taken away and adopted by Nainese families and become Nainese, the number of women sent to these camps and how many children in Nainan today are adopted are unknown.
Another part of the Cailao program was the creation of the Nhóm niềm vui (𡖡念𢝙; tr. "Joy group" or "pleasure group") an alleged group of nearly 4,000 women, initially mainly made up of political prisoners, used for providing sexual pleasure for members of the NPSL and leadership of Nainan. It eventually evolved into mostly being made up of "volunteers" by the 1980s, and in Nainan it is considered to be an honor to be a member of the Nhóm niềm vui. Initial members of the group range from ages 14 to 21, they remain members until around age 30, they are paid highly and are given privileges amongst the citizenry. The group still exists to this day but on a smaller scale. Members of the group are said to pledge "their bodies" to the nation of Nainan.
Later campaign
During the 1980s reforms by the government of Nguyễn Hoài Bắc lead to beginning of the deceleration of Cailao. During this time Nainan was trying to expand onto the global stage and wanted to reform it's image to the world. The number of camps such as labor camps and re-education camps dropped drastically, especially the number of labor camps, labor from these prisoners become less and less necessary for the government to continue.
The number of Cailao labor camps by the end of the 1980s had dropped by around half, many of the prisoners being sent to general population prisons to serve out their sentences without hard labor. Re-education camps dropped at a much smaller level but still continued to reform. Relocation programs for minorities ended by the middle of the 1980s. In 1989 the government would open up Churches and unban the Holy Bible for Nainese Sotirians.
Despite these reforms, practices like the persecuted and killing of political dissidents by the government continued, albeit on a much smaller level than before. But by 1989 much of what is considered the Cailao had ended, and the official program of Cailao ended in 1990, although much of it's practices continued.
Aftermath
The aftermath of the Cailao saw the deaths of many in Nainan, considered a genocide in countries like Senria. Estimates of the death tool range between 300,000 to 1 to 2 million. It is estimated a vast majority of the deaths came from starvation in labor camps.
In Nainan revisionism and propaganda claim that the Cailao was essential for the modernisation campaign of Nainan. Afterwards Nainan began to move slowly to a market economy and continue to modernise into a competitive economy, especially in the 1990s. According to Nainese leaders today, such as current State Director Cao Long Phong, "The Cailao is apart of why our nation is as developed as it is today, without it the following economic modernisation campaign of the late century would not have occured."
Many defectors from Nainan, including Ngô Xuân Hiếu, Ngô would give an account of the forced prostitution of Nainese women as well, he would go on to write a best-selling book about his experience with the Cailao and his regrets being a prison guard.