By Khmerization
Source: RFA
More than 100 Khmer expatriates living in Norway have on 8th May held a Buddhist ceremony to commemorate and pay homage to thousands of Khmer refugees who had tragically died in Dangrek Mountain ranges after Thai troops packed them into trucks and buses and dumped them in minefields on top of Dangrek Mountains near Preah Vihear temple in 1979, reports Radio Free Asia.
When the Vietnamese army drove the Khmer Rouge out of power in 1979, tens of thousands of Khmer refugees fled to Thailand. Thousands have died after they have been inhumanly forced back on foot into Cambodia through thick minefields.
Mr. Ear Channa, Secretary General of the Cambodian Watchdog Council for the Norwegian city of Christiansand, the organiser of the event, said the event is to remember the tragic deaths of tens of thousands of Khmer refugees when Thai troops dumped them on top of the mountains and forced them at gun points to walk into minefields back to Cambodia. "(They) were sent back by Thai soldiers so they can get killed (by landmines). Some people were shot dead by Thai soldiers and other fell to their deaths (from the mountain cliffs). They (ceremony participants) want to participate in the ceremony in order to pray to the soul of those who died so their spirit will reach a peacful world", he said.
The UNHCR's report, on page 494, written in 1979 stated that Thai troops forced about 45,000 Khmer refugees, including the old, the young, the sick and women, at gunpoints to walk back to Cambodia through minefields near Preah Vihear temple. The report quotedThai Prime Minister Kriangsak Chomanan as saying that Thailand was forced to take the steps to repatriate these refugees back to Cambodia because the international community did not come to their aid fast enough and had left Thailand to deal with theserefugees alone.
Mr. Ear Chhana said he is trying to make efforts to take a class action against Thailand in the International Criminial Court in The Hague, Netherlands. "Thai leaders at that time massacred the Khmer people using the pretext that the UN did not come to help the Khmer refugees fast enough, so this is a really inhuman act. They should think of us (Khmer) as their fellow human-beings. They should help to save us and allow us to live (in Thailand) until the UN can come and help us. But they didn't think like that. They knew many Khmers have been killed inside our country (by theKhmer Rouge) and we just want to escape death in order to survive and they (the Thais) killed us again. The Khmer race had nearly become extinct! So, this is another genocide against the Khmer people, if we think carefully about it", he said.
Mr. Khoeun Samkhann, a Khmer-American who is the editor and publisher of a poetry book "Oh! Maha Mount Dangrek!" which describes about Khmer refugee's suffering in the Dangrek Mountain ranges at the hands of the Thai soldiers, said the commemoration service by Khmers living in Norway is a good example. "That (the commemoration) is a good thing to do. It is the best thing we can do. I think that what they are doing now is an eternal remembrance, especially for those compatriots who have died. Another thing is that it is a very good testimony", he said.
Mr. Samkhann encourages all Khmers around the world to hold this sort of ceremony to commemorate their spirit or to remind about the tragic event. He urged all families or relatives of the victms of that event to compile the documents or write their testimonies to tell the world on how theThai soldiers pushed them down of the Dangrek Mountains into minefields so that they can fid justice for them.
Source: RFA
More than 100 Khmer expatriates living in Norway have on 8th May held a Buddhist ceremony to commemorate and pay homage to thousands of Khmer refugees who had tragically died in Dangrek Mountain ranges after Thai troops packed them into trucks and buses and dumped them in minefields on top of Dangrek Mountains near Preah Vihear temple in 1979, reports Radio Free Asia.
When the Vietnamese army drove the Khmer Rouge out of power in 1979, tens of thousands of Khmer refugees fled to Thailand. Thousands have died after they have been inhumanly forced back on foot into Cambodia through thick minefields.
Mr. Ear Channa, Secretary General of the Cambodian Watchdog Council for the Norwegian city of Christiansand, the organiser of the event, said the event is to remember the tragic deaths of tens of thousands of Khmer refugees when Thai troops dumped them on top of the mountains and forced them at gun points to walk into minefields back to Cambodia. "(They) were sent back by Thai soldiers so they can get killed (by landmines). Some people were shot dead by Thai soldiers and other fell to their deaths (from the mountain cliffs). They (ceremony participants) want to participate in the ceremony in order to pray to the soul of those who died so their spirit will reach a peacful world", he said.
The UNHCR's report, on page 494, written in 1979 stated that Thai troops forced about 45,000 Khmer refugees, including the old, the young, the sick and women, at gunpoints to walk back to Cambodia through minefields near Preah Vihear temple. The report quotedThai Prime Minister Kriangsak Chomanan as saying that Thailand was forced to take the steps to repatriate these refugees back to Cambodia because the international community did not come to their aid fast enough and had left Thailand to deal with theserefugees alone.
Mr. Ear Chhana said he is trying to make efforts to take a class action against Thailand in the International Criminial Court in The Hague, Netherlands. "Thai leaders at that time massacred the Khmer people using the pretext that the UN did not come to help the Khmer refugees fast enough, so this is a really inhuman act. They should think of us (Khmer) as their fellow human-beings. They should help to save us and allow us to live (in Thailand) until the UN can come and help us. But they didn't think like that. They knew many Khmers have been killed inside our country (by theKhmer Rouge) and we just want to escape death in order to survive and they (the Thais) killed us again. The Khmer race had nearly become extinct! So, this is another genocide against the Khmer people, if we think carefully about it", he said.
Mr. Khoeun Samkhann, a Khmer-American who is the editor and publisher of a poetry book "Oh! Maha Mount Dangrek!" which describes about Khmer refugee's suffering in the Dangrek Mountain ranges at the hands of the Thai soldiers, said the commemoration service by Khmers living in Norway is a good example. "That (the commemoration) is a good thing to do. It is the best thing we can do. I think that what they are doing now is an eternal remembrance, especially for those compatriots who have died. Another thing is that it is a very good testimony", he said.
Mr. Samkhann encourages all Khmers around the world to hold this sort of ceremony to commemorate their spirit or to remind about the tragic event. He urged all families or relatives of the victms of that event to compile the documents or write their testimonies to tell the world on how theThai soldiers pushed them down of the Dangrek Mountains into minefields so that they can fid justice for them.
13 comments:
thai and siam soldiers robbed, tortured, and killed many Khmer refugees during 1975-1991 by shooting their victims in their limbs leaving some partially lifeless. Them thai/siam crooks will get what they deserve as karma gradually takes effect on their country and people with crook mentality.
I don't remember what year and month was that but I was one of them. At that time, the UN worked very slow. By the way, what happened to the remaining refugees who were at the mountain? I heard the UN later shipped them all to the U.S, was that true?
Thai soldier dumped people off and force khmers to walk on landmines field at Phnom Mali, people were blown into pieces...when people trying to come back or run away from the field they shot them with M-16, UN wokers were showing up late that time...1979
Thailand deserved their turn right now...!
Yes, I was one of the survivors near Phnom Malai. Thai soldiers forced us to walk through thick jungles littered with landmines back to Cambodian territory. Many people were blown off by landmines and died tragically. That's really cruel and sad.
My family is one of the survivors of Phnom Malai, too. But, this several weeks I've learn many bad thing about Mr. Khoeun who I knew very well since we were in Chicago. That he brought two Cambodian Kids to do this book tour for him and send them back to Cambodia with empty hands. The poor kids did not experience the Phnom Malai survivor story, but they experience 2010 someone personal interest....that's great
The evil the fucken Siem heartless can do to the Khmer in the name of territories expansion! Even by killing one Khmer and the fucken heartless Siem think that they will achieve their goal in taking over the Khmer territories and kill off all Khmer people!
Siem is one of the evils in comparing to the Vietcong and Pol Pot!
Siam Army and Fucking Siam King Abduljadet must be investigated and bring to trial for thier crime to murder the neibouring countries poeple. I wonder why UN could not stop the crual thai soldiers to kill innocent people?.
Thank you for you noble action and bringing about the awareness to other people about Thai cruelty toward Cambodian people. Thailand is the land of evil behind their fake smile.
This is the first time I heard this event being honor. I heard that it happened.
There should be an event like that in the US.
This tragic event should be put into Khmer history book to let the young generation knows what the Thai did to us(Khmer). We should never forget about this cruelty act by the Thai government.
I was there as a 10 year old. Here is a first hand account what happened in Dang Rek.
They dumped us at around 12:00am, after a 7-8 hours bus ride from Nong Chan Camp. Everything was pitched dark. The Thais used the cover of darkness to cover their crime.
The next morning we along with thousands of other people were forced at gun point by Khmer Surin army rangers. Yes, these rangers can speak Khmer with heavy accent. So think twice before you consider these Khmer Surin rangers brothers. At one spot, I witnessed 30 ft. away these thugs shot a man and wife because they refused to evacuate immediately.
As soon as we arrived on the Cambodian side, we constantly hear mines went off, followed by screaming. Under some trees there was two or three dead bodies wrapped in blanket as people did not have proper tool give proper burial.
I witnessed in one ditch pile of bodies and blood flowing instead of water. The stentch was horrific. One dead body of a woman still clinching to her dead baby in her arm. This woman apparently went to look for woods to make fire for cooking but step on a mine.
I heard the first of these refugees were Cham minority, follow by Chinese. These people suffer the most because they had no clue where the mines were laid. My family and I must have been the 4th or 5th wave of people so we knew somewhat where some of the mines were because they were marked by people before us. Also by this time there was a well trodden path where we know it was safe to walk on.
Personally saw one man with both legs blown up to his knee. His blood soaked body was dried. His eyes barely open begging for water.
This is a typical scene in Dang Rek. Sometimes fights broke out among refugess because people were trying to get out the same time on a small road in the heat.
As we made our way out of that field, corpes of young and old, man and woman litter the field. Cambodians died like animals.
It took us about a month to walk back to Cambodia. The first town we settled for short while was Kompong Thom. The gov't re-settle us to a village. Shortly after my parent made a second try and was sucessful. We are now in the US.
Of course, you are right, those what Thai did you the refugees at that time, but it's all over now, if we can forget, let's forget it.
Pea romngorb day kar ming chong pea!
If we still dig it out all history it will hurt once we hurt we will revenge, then war will happen, so the country will be ruining again.
If possible please try to forget and be nice to Thais, soon they will be scared of us and respected us as the Khmer Angkor!
Nothing good rather than we are the good persons!
Try to forgive them as much as possible, and remind them that Khmer is the real Buddhist followers, never angry with them or execute them even they provided space for US Army to destroy Cambodia (tones of bomb on Cambodia) and space for Khmer Rouge to fight again HUN XEN or destroyed all Kbal nak tar Khmer.
Fuck Ah Samkhann Khoeun!!
He is a bastard in Lowell.
He didn't serve Cambodian citizen when he was in office CMAA.
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