Indochinese Federation: 300 million dongs for building Viet schools in the Viet colony of Nambodia

Donation made to improve education for Vietnamese-Cambodian children

Saturday, Nov 26, 2011
Saigon Giai Phong (Vietcong communist party)

During the visit and work session in the Kingdom of Cambodia, representatives of the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship Association presented 300 million VND to the Vietnamese Cambodian General Assembly in order to contribute to building more schools for overseas Vietnamese children there.

Speaking at the donation ceremony, held at the Headquarters of the Vietnamese Cambodian General Assembly in Phnom Penh, Vu Mao - Chairman of the Vietnam - Cambodia Friendship Association emphasized the need to provide for children of Vietnamese people in Cambodia.

Previously, due to difficult economic conditions, few Vietnamese–Cambodian children went to school. The lack of education was the key barrier during the integration process of generations of Vietnamese children in Cambodian society.

CACJE Opposition Statement

Click on the statement in Khmer to zoom in

Partial translation from Khmer by Socheata

The Cambodian Action Committee for Justice & Equity (CACJE) is:

1. Opposed to the visit of former King Norodom Sihanouk – who will be accompanied by his family including his wife and son Norodom Sihamoni, the current king – to Vietnam on 22 June 2010.
2. Opposed to the question raised by Son Soubert, the former member of Constitutional Council, who planned to have a joint administration by the Yuon and Khmer governments on the sovereignty of the territory of Koh Tral Island which belongs to Cambodia, as well as the territory of Kampuchea Krom belonging to Cambodia, based on the model of the Pyrenees region in the European Union which is placed under the joint administration of France and Spain since 1607 under an agreement between the French Emperor and leaders of the Spain movement.
3. Absolutely opposed to the plan set by Touch Narim, the Kampong Chhnang provincial governor, who wrote a letter to ask the authorization from the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh in which he promised to provide lands to 4,000 illegal Vietnamese immigrant families and to provide $10,000 to each Vietnamese family that agree to move out of the Chhnok Trou region in Kampong Chhnang to housings in the land area.

Living conditions of the (illegal) Vietnamese in Cambodia

Inset: Vietnamese prostitute arrested and charged for leading a group of Vietnamese assassins to come to rob and kill one of her customer (Photo: Bun Nak, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

Three Vietnamese suspects involved in the murder case described above (Photo: Bun Nak, Koh Santepheap newspaper)

Vietnamese floating village in Siem Reap (Photo: Bob Holz, posted online)

07 October 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

RFA traveled to Phsar Chhnang commune, Kampong Chhnang province, along the Tonle Sap Lake, where the Cambodian authorities claimed that several tens of thousands of Vietnamese immigrants – who hold proper immigration papers issued by the Ministry of interior – are living. However, (it turned out that) this is not an area where legal Vietnamese immigrants are living.

Everybody we asked as to whether they had a legal passport to cross into Cambodia or not. The answers were unanimous: None whatsoever. These Vietnamese cross into Cambodia from Vietnam by boats, and most of them claim that it was to find a better living condition by living on the (Tonle Sap) Lake inside Cambodia, where they have settled until now.

40-year-old Nguyen Thi Thu lives on a boat near Kandal village. She just arrived from Vietnam one year ago. She said that she has no Vietnamese identification papers, no passport, no nothing, this simply means that she entered Cambodia illegally and she continued to live under this condition and she even gives birth here in Cambodia. “She said that she did not obtain the Cambodian citizenship, but she received an identification paper showing that she is Vietnamese, and she said that they allow her to live here (in Cambodia) temporarily.”

Some live in Cambodia for 5 years already, others live here for 10 or even 20-year. A 70-year-old Vietnamese man praised his living condition in Cambodia, saying that living here is very easy, nobody dares chase him to somewhere else, even though he does not hold a Cambodian identification. “Living here is easy … I don’t want to go back south (Vietnam) anymore, I am living in Cambodia. There’s nothing to be scared of, in Cambodia, what is there to fear?”

In Cambodia, currently, there is not a single region that is not touched by immigrants, especially Vietnamese immigrants, whether they are legal or illegal. This issue is becoming a complicated matter now, and politicians have criticized that this situation creates a bad condition to the Cambodian society.

Suon Visal, a legal official, said that the fact there is no set region (for the immigrants to live in) prevents the authority from knowing the exact number of these immigrants, and they will also have difficulties in the administration of these immigrants. The results (of this carelessness) allow criminals to commit their actions and causing disorder in the society.

Suon Visal said: “As I told you about the law at the beginning, there is no way to determine the immigrants, there is no single place for them to live. If they are allowed to live anywhere they want, there will be a lot of problems, that is we lose our national integrity in the governance of the country, in this manner, any nationalities can come and live here (as they want). We cannot govern the country with such a lax system, problems will arise. There could be a lot of problems in the society involving governance, security, social order, and the integrity of a country.”

Regarding the flow of Vietnamese people into Cambodia, Thach Setha, a former Senator and current President of the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Community, claimed that the number of Vietnamese immigrants is very huge ever since the Vietnamese troop invaded Cambodia in 1979.

Thach Setha believes that the settling of the majority of Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia was planned and it also received protection as well.

Thach Setha said: “They (VN immigrants) did not come (to Cambodia) due to political or economical reasons, the majority of them are ordered to come in by their organizations. Their arrival was clearly ordered by an organization, and they even have their own leaders (set up). The leaders receive salary from Vietnam, and they led groups of Vietnamese workers to settle in Cambodia through their organizations and associations which have been set up in 9 provinces and municipalities.”

Even though Thach Setha leveled these accusations, Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman, declared that among the (Vietnamese) immigrants, some are born here, while others have proper paper works allowing them to live in Cambodia legally as immigrants.

Thach Setha indicated: “The yearly authorization paper (to live in Cambodia), they already have it, the question is: how many times can they renew this paper? (In Cambodia now,) don’t we have people from France, England, etc… who came here also? They renew their permit to live here. But, their permits specify where they live, work, etc… and they still keep their citizenships (unlike the Vietnamese).”

Opposition MP Son Chhay said that the situation should not be as it is currently. According to the immigration law, immigrants entering Cambodia must possess a passport and proper visa. When they overstay their visa, they will be charged.

He added that this problem occurs because Cambodian laws are too lax: “Immigrants usually move to a location where the living condition is higher, but we are really puzzled to see these Vietnamese coming to Cambodia where the economic condition is three times lower than in Vietnam. Jobs are hard to come by (in Cambodia), why do they come here? This is the first problem. The second problem is the lax condition and the lack of responsibility from the immigration officers and our government, they left (the border) open and create this anarchy.”

Son Chhay added that additional legal measures are necessary to regulate deportations, and to reign in on illegal immigrants who in some cases, are coming to Cambodia because of the policy (set up by the Cambodian government).

Suon Visal stressed that he believes that with a tightening of the existing immigration law, all these problems would be resolved.

The Cambodian naturalization of Vietnamese immigrants

30 September 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Cambodian naturalization for Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia is a difficult and complicated matter, but, it becomes very easy if these immigrants are willing to bribe.

Sien Sam Bun is the Cambodian name of a 62-year-old Vietnamese man living in Chrauy Changvar, Phnom Penh city. He said that he was born there, and he received the Cambodian nationality, however, for some Vietnamese who are not born here, the Cambodian naturalization is not a difficult problem. All they have to do is bribe the authority and the story will end there, however, they must change their names and adopt a Cambodian name, or they have to declare a fake birthplace in Cambodia.

Sien Sam Bun said: “We take (the Cambodian nationality) for one period of time only to ease the living condition, we are not immigrants, we have the citizenship, some are naturalized, there’s no problem. Only the old bald men who have dollars (in their pocket) can be naturalized. If we talk about it, the issue can be extended further and further, so I make it short, (otherwise) they will say that we are opposing them (the Cambodian authorities), (that we bring in) corruption because of that.”

Several thousands of Vietnamese families living on the Tonle Sap Lake, in Kampong Chhnang province, all have their Vietnamese immigrant identification cards issued by the Ministry of Interior.

Nguyen Thi Thu, a 37-year-old woman, living in Kandal village, Phsar Chhnang commune, Kampong Chhnang province, claimed that she came to live here 7-year now, but she did not obtain the Cambodian citizenship yet. The authority wouldn’t allow her to be naturalized, and even her daughter who was born here is not a citizen: “We live here a while, then move to another place, we have no place to go, they wouldn’t let us in…”

Nguyen Van Bu, a 53-year-old man who can speak Cambodian without accent, claimed that he was born in Kampong Os, Kampong Chhnang province, however, he does not have the Cambodian citizenship, and he still lives at the same place. He said that he fled to Vietnam during the KR era, and there, the Vietnamese authority considered him as an immigrant also.

Nguyen Van Bu said: “I want to be naturalized but I don’t know what happen with the Cambodian government when it comes to people like me who came here since 1983. I was born in Cambodia, but because of the war, I went to Vietnam, and when I returned back from Vietnam and arrived in Cambodia, I was considered a refugee, an immigrant, the same way it was, they don’t give me the citizenship for several years now. If I was actually from Vietnam and just arrive here, then when they don’t give me the citizenship, that’s fine by me. If I was born here, and since 1983 I came here, I went to Vietnam because of the war, if there was no war, I wouldn’t go back.”

Nguyen Van Bu said that his living condition is very difficult because in Cambodia, he is considered an immigrant, and when he lived in Vietnam, he was also considered an immigrant as well: “It’s difficult, in short, jobs for immigrants are not the same as for actual Cambodians, the jobs (finding) is difficult, the traveling for us, as immigrants, is like for refugees, we are being followed.”

Le Vung Khanh, a 25-year-old Vietnamese man living on a boat and who also speaks Cambodian clearly, added that there is no difficulties at all, currently, if someone wants to be naturalized, all they have to do is to bribe the authority, and the issue will be solved. However, he said that, for himself, he doesn’t want to bribe because he has no money, even though he knows that the Cambodian naturalization helps in the living condition.

Le Vung Khanh said: “In my family, it cost $200 each (in bribe for the naturalization), we are three at home, it will cost us $600, when you multiply $600 by 2 millions (Vietnamese immigrant families?) … and my father is already over 60, why should I be naturalized, it’s a waste of money. But, for Cambodians, business is very easy, first of all, it’s easy to travel, and secondly, wherever we go, nobody dares do anything to us.”

Among the Vietnamese living on the Tonle Sap, none of them have the Cambodian citizenship, they only have an Vietnamese immigrant identification card, even though some claim that they were born here, and that they want to become Cambodian citizens in order to ease their living condition.

Up to now, the Ministry of Interior did not yet provide the number of Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia who were naturalized, and those who didn’t.

However, Sim Chi, the president of the Vietnamese associations in Cambodia, claimed that among the 100,000 Vietnamese living in Cambodia, half of them have been naturalized: “Those who obtained the paperwork from the authority (for their naturalization), they number about 50%.”

Sim Chi claimed that the naturalization of Vietnamese people was done after they fulfilled their legal duties, such as being born here, speak Cambodian, respect the culture, etc…

This claim was rejected by opposition MP Son Chhay. He indicated that the Cambodian naturalization was very strict starting from the colonial period. To the contrary, currently, the naturalization is conducted like a fanfare mainly because of corruption.

Son Chhay said: “Lately, we have not seen any request document by Vietnamese people to be naturalized as Cambodian, (and the reason for this is because) the national institution for nationality is too lax. We observe that there is a large number of Vietnamese do not have to make a legal request anymore, all they have to do is to bribe the police officers, then they can obtain all the paperwork and the naturalization very easily. Some don’t even know how to speak a single word of Cambodian and they have Cambodian citizenships also.”

The nationality law in Cambodia contains 19 articles stipulating that immigrants from all nations, who came to live in Cambodia legally, or if they were born in Cambodia, for 7 years, or if they are married with a Cambodian citizen, they have the right to be naturalized, but this can be done only after the king signs a legal decree to the effect.

Son Chhay said that a large number of Vietnamese people living in Cambodia, are illegal, and he never saw the king signing any decree allowing the naturalization of these Vietnamese people, but to the contrary, at each election, the opposition party always has to demand to the National Election Committee (NEC) to erase the names of Vietnamese immigrants who hold Cambodian identification cards.