By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The Khmer Mchas Srok Movement (KMS) will organize a new conference focusing on the major problems faced by the current Cambodian society.
Dr. Chak Sakhon, KMS General Delegate, told RFA this Saturday that her movement will organize a conference at the Church of the Nazarene in Minnesota, USA, between 22 and 26 March 2008.
Dr. Chak Sakhon said: “In the name of the Khmer Mchas Srok, our compatriots in Minnesota will organize a conference to provide information about the various problems in Cambodia that is facing with threats from rights violation on the people, land-grabbing by powerful (government officials) people. In particular, prior to the election, our compatriots must make the right decision before voting in July 2008. Our compatriots must think hard about these issues, and they must understand the various problems that are occurring in Cambodia nowadays.”
This conference will also focus on the formation of a new office branch of the KMSM in Minnesota. The KMSM indicated that it is not a political party, but it is a national unification movement, formed by expatriate Cambodian people to serve the interest of all the Cambodian people.
Dr. Chak Sakhon also indicated about the activities conducted by the KMSM: “In our first step, we are only making the public aware of the various problems faced by Cambodia, so that our Cambodian compatriots understand them clearly about the current Cambodian affairs, such as the poverty problem, the corruption problem, the lack of social justice problem, the human rights problems. What I want all Cambodian people to know is where we are right now, in 2008. Will Cambodians fare well in the future or not, or will we lose our identity and become just a simple Indochinese? During this month, the KMSM issued two statements, the first one about Cambodians in Long Beach setting up Cambodia Town, we asked that Cambodian people overseas unite with each others to strongly preserve our identity, because inside Cambodia, it is not certain that the Cambodian identity will be preserved, maybe in the near future, we will have the Indochinese citizenship and we will be ruled by Vietnam. Therefore, we are very concerned about this issue. Secondly, we also issued a statement about the conference held on the 28 (of February) in Sihanoukville (between Cambodia and Vietnam), we are very concerned about this conference because the (Hun Sen) Cambodian government signed several treaties and sub-treaties, and we are concerned about the usefulness of these treaties, what will Cambodian people benefit from them? Maybe they are concluded only to put to an end of our Cambodian identity and turn us into Indochinese placed under the yoke of the Vietnamese? Therefore, on all these issues, we want our compatriots to understand that the Cambodian people are walking towards an abyss, if they take another step they will fall into the abyss, shouldn’t they pull back?”
The KMS was formed October 2006, it is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and it has several other branches in other US states, as well as in other countries, such as France and Australia.
Dr. Chak Sakhon, KMS General Delegate, told RFA this Saturday that her movement will organize a conference at the Church of the Nazarene in Minnesota, USA, between 22 and 26 March 2008.
Dr. Chak Sakhon said: “In the name of the Khmer Mchas Srok, our compatriots in Minnesota will organize a conference to provide information about the various problems in Cambodia that is facing with threats from rights violation on the people, land-grabbing by powerful (government officials) people. In particular, prior to the election, our compatriots must make the right decision before voting in July 2008. Our compatriots must think hard about these issues, and they must understand the various problems that are occurring in Cambodia nowadays.”
This conference will also focus on the formation of a new office branch of the KMSM in Minnesota. The KMSM indicated that it is not a political party, but it is a national unification movement, formed by expatriate Cambodian people to serve the interest of all the Cambodian people.
Dr. Chak Sakhon also indicated about the activities conducted by the KMSM: “In our first step, we are only making the public aware of the various problems faced by Cambodia, so that our Cambodian compatriots understand them clearly about the current Cambodian affairs, such as the poverty problem, the corruption problem, the lack of social justice problem, the human rights problems. What I want all Cambodian people to know is where we are right now, in 2008. Will Cambodians fare well in the future or not, or will we lose our identity and become just a simple Indochinese? During this month, the KMSM issued two statements, the first one about Cambodians in Long Beach setting up Cambodia Town, we asked that Cambodian people overseas unite with each others to strongly preserve our identity, because inside Cambodia, it is not certain that the Cambodian identity will be preserved, maybe in the near future, we will have the Indochinese citizenship and we will be ruled by Vietnam. Therefore, we are very concerned about this issue. Secondly, we also issued a statement about the conference held on the 28 (of February) in Sihanoukville (between Cambodia and Vietnam), we are very concerned about this conference because the (Hun Sen) Cambodian government signed several treaties and sub-treaties, and we are concerned about the usefulness of these treaties, what will Cambodian people benefit from them? Maybe they are concluded only to put to an end of our Cambodian identity and turn us into Indochinese placed under the yoke of the Vietnamese? Therefore, on all these issues, we want our compatriots to understand that the Cambodian people are walking towards an abyss, if they take another step they will fall into the abyss, shouldn’t they pull back?”
The KMS was formed October 2006, it is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and it has several other branches in other US states, as well as in other countries, such as France and Australia.
