Land protest leader in Kampuchea Krom concerned that he may face arrest

10 September 2010
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Click here to read the article in Khmer

A Khmer Krom activist who led protests to demand the return of Khmer Krom farmlands back is currently facing arrest by the Viet cops.

A Khmer Krom farmer is currently in hiding after 4 uniformed Viet cops came looking to arrest him in the evening of 09 September because he led protests to demand back his ancestral farmlands that were confiscated by the Viet authority, and also because he always sent out information on protests and on human rights violations by the Viet authority to the outside world.

The Khmer Krom farmer from An Cu commune, Tinh Bien district, Motr Chrouk province (renamed An Giang in Vietnamese), who declined to provide his name, told RFA over the phone that he now has no safety at all: “They asked me why did I yell to let the International community know about their internal affairs? I will still continue to yell because I lost all my farmlands and the authority did not provide any resolution for me.”

RFA contacted the Viet embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to ask them to clarify whether the living condition for the Khmer Krom families is tense as claimed or not, however the person who answered the phone claimed that the Viet embassy spokesperson was not at his office.

Thach Setha, President of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Community association in Cambodia, said: “I am very concerned because this is the habit of the commies, they place under surveillance those who stood up to protest, such action is an indicator for them to conduct their close surveillance, and it will conclude with an arrest. I am very concerned about his safety.”

The same Khmer Krom farmer indicated that he led numerous protests since 2007 to demand the return of the ancestral farmlands. The protests were held in Prey Nokor city (renamed Ho Chi Minh City by the occupying Viet regime) and in Hanoi. Furthermore, he always criticized the Viet authority for its freedom rights violations on Khmer Krom families.

Khmer Krom people bring their demonstration to Prey Nokor city (HCMC) to protest land problem

20 June 2007
By Uk Sav Bory
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

More than 30 Khmer Kampuchea Krom people stood and demonstrated in front the office of the Vietnamese communist party central committee in Prey Nokor city (Ho Chi Minh city) this Tuesday morning. The demonstration took place after the Vietnamese authority prevented a number of Khmer Krom people from traveling by cars on Monday to hand over a petition to the Vietnamese prime minister asking for a resolution in the 500-hectare of lands owned by Khmer Krom people living in Motr Chrouk province (An Giang in Vietnamese) which were confiscated the Vietnamese authority several years ago.

An anonymous representative of the Khmer Krom people, told RFA over the phone from Prey Nokor city that after the Vietnamese authority forced the 120 protesters, representing more than 400 Khmer Krom families involved in the land dispute, to travel several hundred kilometers by foot from Motr Chrouk province to Prey Nokor city, a group of about 30 protesters were able to secretly reach Prey Nokor city. This group is currently preparing to hand over their petitions to the Vietnamese prime minister to ask for his help in the resolution of the confiscation of Khmer Krom people lands by the Vietnamese authority several years ago. After the confiscation of their lands, Khmer Krom people no longer have lands for farming. “Some arrived in Prey Nokor city today. Right now, they are demonstrating, we are now in front the (Vietnamese communist) party central committee (office), and we are holding a demonstration, we have paper works that will be sent Hanoi also.”

Monk Pisith Kong, an aid to the Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF), said that Khmer Krom people living in Motr Choruk province have demonstrated three times already to demand a resolution for the their (confiscated) lands. In the province of Khleang (Soc Trang in Vietnamese), there were 6 to 7 demonstrations held (to protest) about land problems, and there was one demonstration held by Khmer Krom monks to demand for their freedom to practice their Buddhism religious belief. The Vietnamese authority defrocked 16 Khmer Krom monks, and sentenced 5 of them to 2 to 4-year jail term. Furthermore, the Vietnamese authority dismissed the demands made by Khmer Krom people to get back their farmlands.

Monk Pisith Kong said that the current demonstration is held to find out if the Vietnamese authority will respect its own country’s laws since it declared to the International community that it will respect the native people in Vietnam, including Khmer Krom people and Montagnard people. Monk Pisith Kong said: “During this demonstration, the KKF will ask the US government, during the visit of the Vietnamese president, Nguyen Minh Triet, to Washington DC on 22 June, to push and to pressure the Vietnamese government to respect the freedom rights of Khmer Krom people who lost their lands, as well as to request the US intervention in the savage defrocking on Khmer Krom monks, an act that is contrary to the International law.”

Khmer Krom demonstrators in Prey Nokor city said that they are persevering until the Vietnamese government accept to resolve the lack of land problems faced by Khmer Krom people living in Motr Chrouk province, as stipulated by the Vietnamese law.

The KKF said that Khmer Krom people are threatened on human rights issues, religious belief, culture, lack of farmlands, etc…, and the Vietnamese authority had posted police force around the homes of the demonstrators who are called out of their homes and taken in for questioning. In some instances, the Vietnamese authority also used violence to defrock and jail Khmer Krom monks who are demanding for the freedom rights. Even if they are faced with all these woes, Khmer Krom people are still continuing their fight in order to make their demands be known to the International community.