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| សាលារៀនបណ្តែតទឹកនៅលើបឹងទន្លេសាប មានសរសេរអក្សរវៀតណាម និងមានបិទរូបថត មេដឹកនាំជាន់ខ្ពស់គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជាអមសងខាង នៅសង្កាត់ចុងឃ្នាស ក្រុងសៀមរាប កាលពីចុងខែមុន។ មានសេចក្តីរាយការណ៍ថា នៅក្នុងការបោះឆ្នោតឃុំ-សង្កាត់ កាលពីថ្ងៃទី ៣ ខែមិថុនាកន្លងមក នៅសង្កាត់ចុងឃ្នាស មានជនជាតិវៀតណាមរាប់រយនាក់ បានចូលរួមបោះឆ្នោត។ បញ្ហានិគមជនជាតិវៀតណាមគឺជារឿងរសើបមួយ ហើយតែងជារបៀបវារៈសំខាន់ សម្រាប់គណបក្សប្រឆាំង ធ្វើការវាយប្រហារ ទៅលើគណបក្សប្រជាជន។ រូបថត ជីវ័ន Floating Viet school on the Tonle Sap displaying sign in Vietnamese adorned by photos of CPP leaders. The school is located in Chong Khneas commune, Siem Reap city. Report had indicated that during the recent 03 June 2012 commune election, 100 Vietnamese citizens voted there. Problem with Vietnamese immigrants is a sensitive issue that generated attacks by the opposition on the ruling CPP party. (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post) |
Showing posts with label Illegal Vietnamese immigrants. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Illegal Vietnamese immigrants. Show all posts
Monday, July 02, 2012
សាលារៀនវៀតណាម...! - Viet school adorned by CPP protection signs
ផ្ទះវៀតណាមសង់លើទន្លេខ្មែរ? - Viet floating houses on Khmer lake
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| ផ្ទះបណ្តែតទឹកដែលត្រូវគេប្រាប់ថា មានប្រហែលរាប់ពាន់ ភាគច្រើនជាផ្ទះនិគមជនជាតិវៀតណាមនៅខាងចុងនៃស្ទឹងសង្កែ ជាប់បឹងទន្លេសាបក្នុងភូមិព្រែកទាល់ ឃុំកោះជីវាំងស្រុកឯកភ្នំ ខេត្តបាត់ដំបង។ រដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាត្រូវគេចោទថា បាននិងកំពុងធ្វើមិនដឹងមិនឮ និងបានបណ្តែតបណ្តោយឲ្យជនជាតិវៀតណាមចូលមកតាំងទីលំនៅយ៉ាងច្រើនសម្បើមនៅកម្ពុជាទាំងលើទឹកទាំងលើគោក។ រូបថត ជីវ័ន Thousands of Viet floating houses on the Sangker River, next to the Tonle Sap River, in Prek Toal village, Koh Chiveang commune, Ek Phnom district, Battambang province. The Phnom Penh regime is accused of ignoring and alloving Vietnamese to settle in large number in Cambodia, both on land and on waters. (Photo: Heng Chivoan, The Phnom Penh Post) |
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Yesterday in 1975
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| Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com) |
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Kep Chuktema's development zone selection dicrimination: Vietnamese communities not touched ... Cambodian communities smashed to the ground
«...នេះបានចំជាចៃ បរទេស មែន! ស្រុកខ្មែរ ងើបមិនរួច ពីខ្ញុំគេ មកពីមានចៃធើធំបែបនេះច្រើនណាស់ តោងរោមជើងបរទេស!»
"... What a lice! Cambodia could not get up because of these slaves who are greedy for power by clinging foreigners' hair like a lice!"
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| សំណង់ ដែលភាគច្រើនជារបស់និគមជនជាតិវៀតណាម នៅតាមមាត់ទន្លេគល់ស្ពានច្បារអំពៅ។ (រូបថត សុប្រាជ្ញ) Vietnamese village next to Chhbar Ampov bridge (Photo: Tong Soprach) |
18 June 2012
តុង សុប្រាជ្ញ
The Phnom Penh Post
កាលពីសម័យសាធារណរដ្ឋប្រជាមានិតកម្ពុជា ទសវត្សរ៍ឆ្នាំ៨០ យុវជន ត្រូវបានគេលើកទឹកចិត្តតាមរយៈទិសស្លោកថា៖«ទីណាលំបាកមាន យុវជន!...»។ តែបច្ចុប្បន្នភាពនេះវិញ គឺឲ្យតែទីណាលំបាក គឺមានរាស្រ្តស្រែកយំពេញភូមិហើយ មានន័យថា ឲ្យតែកន្លែងរាស្រ្តយំទ្រហឹងយ៉ាងកងរំពង គឺទីនោះហើយ ជាតំបន់អភិវឌ្ឍន៍។ ហេតុអ្វីបានជាឲ្យតែមានការអភិវឌ្ឍ ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋចេះតែយំសោកសង្រេង ស្តាយរបស់របរពួកគាត់ ដែលត្រូវបានគេកម្ទេចអ៊ីចឹង?ហើយហេតុអ្វី បានជាជ្រើសរើសតំបន់អភិវឌ្ឍន៍ នៅរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ មានការរើសអើង! ចំពោះតំបន់ដែលមានជនអន្តោប្រវេសន៍ទំាងស្របច្បាប់ ទាំងខុសច្បាប់ម្តេចមិនជ្រើសរើសជាតំបន់អភិវឌ្ឍន៍ផង?
ប្រមាណជា ១០ ឆ្នាំចុងក្រោយនេះ ឃើញថា រាជធានីភ្នំពេញមានការប្រែប្រួលមុខមាត់ថ្មី តាមរយៈការអភិវឌ្ឍយ៉ាងឆាប់រហ័ស ក្រោមការដឹកនាំ និងបញ្ជាផ្ទាល់ពីលោកចៅហ្វាយក្រុង កែប ជុតិមា ដោយមានការចង្អុលបង្ហាញតម្រង់ទិស ប្រកបដោយគតិបណ្ឌិត របស់រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល ដែលមាន សម្តេចតេជោ សែន ជាប្រមុខ ដែលបានខិតខំកែប្រែពីទីក្រុងបុរាណឲ្យក្លាយទៅជាទីក្រុងដ៏ស្រស់ប្រិមប្រិយដូចសព្វថ្ងៃនេះ។ មានសមិទ្ធផលធំៗ ដែលសម្រេចបាន ដូចជា ស្ពានអាកាសក្បាលថ្នល់ ស្ពានអាកាស ៧មករា សួនច្បារ និងសួនកុមារ៣-៤ ហេដ្ឋារចនាសម្ព័ន្ធផ្សេងៗជុំវិញរាជធានី ដែលសុទ្ធតែបម្រើឲ្យផលប្រយោជន៍របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ ក្នុងរាជធានីទាំងមូល ដោយមិនប្រកាន់ បក្ខពួកឡើយ។ ជាពិសេសសមិទ្ធផលទាំងអស់នេះ ក៏បានជួយលើកកម្ពស់មុខមាត់ប្រទេសកម្ពុជាយើង ដែលសព្វថ្ងៃជាប្រធានអាស៊ានផងនោះ។ តែចម្ងល់ចេះតែឆ្ងល់ថា ចុះហេតុអី្វ បានជាការអភិវឌ្ឍប្រព្រឹត្តទៅនៅតែតំបន់ក្រីក្រណាដែលប្រជាពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរគ្នាឯងរស់នៅដីខ្មែរសុទ្ធសាធ ដោយចោទប្រកាន់ថា ជាតំបន់អនាធិបតេយ្យ ដូចជា តំបន់កោះពេជ្រ ភូមិ ៧៨ ភូមិសំបុកចាប ភូមិប្លុកប៊ូឌីង បុរីកីឡា បឹងកក់ និងតំបន់ស្ពានជ្រោយចង្វារនៅតាមច្រាំងទន្លេ ជាដើមនោះ? ហើយការអភិវឌ្ឍនៅតំបន់ក្រីក្រខ្មែរគ្នាឯងទាំងនេះគឺសុទ្ធទទួលរងការបំផ្លិចបំផ្លាញផ្ទះសម្បែង សម្ភាររស់នៅប្រចំាថ្ងៃ ខ្លះយំសោកបោកខ្លួន ដូចសត្វអកអ៊ីចឹង ស្តាយកន្លែងរស់នៅរបស់របរ ដោយសារភាពក្រីក្ររក១ ថ្ងៃទទួលទាន ១ ថ្ងៃ ហើយទទួលបន្ទុកបន្ថែមទៀតរកលុយដើម្បីសង់ផ្ទះថ្មី ខ្លះក៏ត្រូវគេជម្លៀសទាំងគ្រួសារឲ្យនៅឆ្ងាយពីទីក្រុងដល់ ភ្នំបាតឯណោះក៏មាន គឺយកមនុស្សបោះចោលដូចយកសំរាមទៅចាក់ចោលអ៊ីចឹង។ រហូតដល់ឃុំព្រះកាយព្រះអង្គលួន សាវ៉ាត បណ្តោះអាសន្ន ដែលគ្រាន់តែថតរូប និងតាមឃ្លាំមើលការតវ៉ា ហើយថ្មីៗនេះ មានស្រ្តីដែលរស់នៅបឹងកក់ ១៥ នាក់ ត្រូវបានជាប់ពន្ធធនាគាព្រៃស ដោយអាជ្ញាធររាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ដែលកូនៗរបស់ពួកគាត់ខានរៀន ខានសូត្រអស់ហើយ ខិតខំស្វះស្វែងរកការគាំទ្រ និងអន្តរាគមន៍ពីគ្រប់មជ្ឈដ្ឋាន តាំងពីរដ្ឋសភា ព្រះបរមរាជវាំង រហូតដល់ការិយាល័យសហគមន៍អឺរ៉ុប ដើម្បីឲ្យដោះលែងម្តាយរបស់ពួកគេ តែមកទល់ពេលនេះ ពុំទាន់ឃើញមានដំណោះស្រាយអ្វីជាដុំកំភួននៅឡើយទេ។
តើការអភិវឌ្ឍនៅតែតំបន់ក្រីក្រខ្មែរ ដែលជាម្ចាស់ស្រុកទ្រហោយំ ទទួលរងកម្មរាល់ថ្ងៃបែបនេះ គឺក្រោមការដឹកនាំ និងបញ្ជាផ្ទាល់ពីលោក ចៅហ្វាយក្រុង កែប ជុតិមា ដោយមានការចង្អុលបង្ហាញតម្រង់ទិស ប្រកបដោយគតិបណ្ឌិត របស់រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល ដែលមាន សម្តេចតេជោ សែន ជាប្រមុខផងដែរឬទេ? ហើយហេតុអ្វីបានជាមួយថ្ងៃៗ ដេកគិតតែអភិវឌ្ឍនៅតំបន់ដែលខ្មែរគ្នាឯងរស់នៅ តំបន់ស្ពានជ្រោយចង្វារត្រើយខាងជើង រាជធានីភ្នំពេញ តែមិនរវីរវល់ អភិវឌ្ឍតំបន់ត្រើយស្ពានច្បារអំពៅខាងត្បូងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ដែលពោរពេញទៅដោយជនអន្តោប្រវេសន៍ ទំាងស្របច្បាប់ ទាំងខុសច្បាប់ មានទាំងជនជាតិចិន ចាម វៀតណាម រហូតដល់អាហ្វ្រិកស្បែកខ្មៅទៀតផង? ខ្លះនិយាយខ្មែរប៉ៃឡាំៗមិនទាំងច្បាស់ផង ពេលខ្លះពួកគេបោះសំដីថា ផ្សារច្បារអំពៅថា ជាផ្សារសៃហ្គនម៉ឺយទៀតផង បើនិយាយពីថា តំបន់អនាធិបតេយ្យ គឺដូចតែគ្នាទេ ហើយតំបន់ទាំងនោះ សុទ្ធតែស្ថិតនៅក្នុងប្លង់អភិវឌ្ឍរបស់សាលារាជធានី ហេតុអ្វីក៏លោក កែប ជុតិមា ជ្រើសរើសតំបន់អភិវឌ្ឍន៍មានការរើសអើងជាតិសាសន៍ដូច្នេះ? ហេតុអ្វីមិនអភិវឌ្ឍតំបន់ជនបរទេសទាំងនោះ ដែលរស់នៅតាមមាត់ច្រាំង និងនៅលើទូកយ៉ាងអនាធិបតេយ្យទាំងនោះផង នៅតាមច្រាំងស្ពានខាងត្បូងហ្នឹងផង? តែមិនអ៊ីចឹងឯណា ជាមួយជនបរទេស មិនបានអភិវឌ្ឍតំបន់ដែលពួកគេរស់នៅទេ មានតែខិតខំធ្វើអត្តសញ្ញាណប័ណ្ណឲ្យថែមទៀត ដូចពេលបោះឆ្នោតឃុំ-សង្កាត់ថ្មីៗនេះ នៅតាមកញ្ចក់ទូរទស្សន៍គឺលោក គួច ចំរើន អភិបាលខណ្ឌមានជ័យ បានខិតខំចេញអត្តសញ្ញាណប័ណ្ណឲ្យជនបរទេសដែលចូលមករស់នៅ ស្រុកខ្មែរមិនទាន់មានអត្តសញ្ញាប័ណ្ណដើម្បីឲ្យស្របច្បាប់។ ចំណែកជនជាតិខ្មែរណាដែលមានអត្តសញ្ញាណប័ណ្ណប្រើប្រាស់ហួសកាល បរិច្ឆេទវិញ គឺគ្មានពេលធ្វើឲ្យទេ ចាំលើកក្រោយទៅ។ តើនេះមកតែពីកម្ពុជា មិនទាន់អស់កម្ម គឺសឹងតែទៅជាប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រទៅហើយ ឲ្យតែចង់ធ្វើធំ ចង់បានអំណាចនៅតែជំពាក់កម្មគេ ជំពាក់គុណគេ ជំពាក់បំណុលគេរហូតបែបនេះឬ? តើពេលណាបានអស់កម្ម? ហេតុអ្វីក៏ពូកែណាស់បានតែធ្វើបាបតែខ្មែរគ្នាឯងអ៊ីចឹង? សម្លឹងឃើញណាស់ ឲ្យតែរបស់ខ្មែរគ្នាឯង គឺប្រៀបដូចកាលពីជំនាន់អាណានិគមនិយមបារំាងធ្វើបាបខ្មែរ ក្នុងរឿងភូមិតិរច្ឆាន តួអង្គនាងនី បានចំអក លោកថីសួន ដែលជាអ្នកបកប្រែឲ្យលោកបាដេសនោះថា៖«...នេះបានចំជាចៃបារាំង មែន! ស្រុកខ្មែរ ងើបមិនរួច ពីខ្ញុំគេ មកពីមានចៃធើធំបែបនេះច្រើនណាស់ តោងរោមជើងបារាំង!»។ បើនិយាយពីច្បាប់អន្តោប្រវេសន៍ ដែលបានអនុម័តតាំងពីឆ្នាំ ១៩៩៤ មកនោះ គឺដេកលក់ស្ងាត់ឈឹង ទាល់គេដាស់បានយកមកប្រើសម្រាប់ហេតុផលនយោបាយ ដូចជា៖ ការចាប់បញ្ជូនជនជាតិចិនភាគតិចអ៊ុយគ័រ ២០ នាក់សុំសិទិ្ធជ្រកកោនឲ្យត្រឡប់ទៅស្រុកចិនវិញកាលពីឆ្នាំ ២០០៩ និងការចាប់មេដឹកនាំអាវលឿងថៃ ២ នាក់ដាក់ពន្ធនាគារព្រៃស តាំងពីឆ្នាំ ២០១០ តែប៉ុណ្ណោះ។
ជាសរុបមកវិញថា តើពេលណាទើបលោក កែប ជុតិមា មកអភិវឌ្ឍនៅតំបន់ស្ពានខាងត្បូងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ ដែលជាផ្លូវអាស៊ានផងដែរនោះយកស្នាដៃ ឲ្យដូចស្ពានខាងជើង? សូមប្រាប់ផងបានទេទាន។
Monday, March 05, 2012
Life in Snok Tru, Hun Xen's Nambodia where the use of Khmer is NOT encouraged
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOWiwQQ4xHo
Sunday, March 04, 2012
Voice of the Khmer People on Hun Xen's regime - អាណាគេឲ្យយួនចូលស្រុកខ្មែរហ្នឹង?
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| មានអាណាគេ មានតែ៣ក្បាលហ្នឹង! |
Click on the control below to listen to the interview:
Monday, January 09, 2012
Thursday, September 15, 2011
A number of important issues in Cambodia - Source: Unknown
Dear Readers,
The following document was sent to us by an anonymous reader. The source is unknown. The issues discussed in the document include: (1) the number of Vietnamese immigrants in Cambodia and their distribution and structure, the Vietnamese interferences in Cambodia's internal affairs including the border dispute with Thailand and Cambodia's political affairs; (2) the election situation in Cambodia; and (3) the general political situation of Cambodia in the future, as well as democracy in Cambodia.
Thank you,
KI- media team
Friday, June 24, 2011
Vietnamese-Americans voice gospel to villagers on Cambodian Lake
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| Albert Barajas, 36, a dentist from Dallas, trains an 11-year-old to sterilize equipment during a dental clinic in a floating village on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. (IMB PHOTOS) |
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| Kristy Harless, Gina Nguyen and Lynne Leung visit boat-to-boat to assess medical needs in the floating village of Kbal Taol on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake. (IMB PHOTOS) |
June 23, 2011
By Staff
International Mission Board
KBAL TAOL, Cambodia—For a moment, Josh Nguyen thought he was back in Vietnam. Rubbing the wooden floor of a floating home in this remote village on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the 44-year-old physician from Houston remembered the country he left as a refugee in 1975.
Nguyen joined a team of nine other medical and dental volunteers working with the Vietnamese living in floating villages on Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. He and three nurses divided into two groups and visited from boat to boat, assessing medical needs and sharing the Gospel. Nguyen, who speaks Vietnamese, also translated for the nurse who assisted him.
The trip was revealing to Nguyen, who saw himself not only in the floorboards but also in the faces and experiences of those he met on the lake.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Thai lecturer: Viet immigrants live along the border with Thailand and they are in command in the clash with the Siamese (sic?)
Many Cambodian people of Vietnamese descent live on the border in Trat.
Cambodian troops use guerrilla warfare, ambushing our troops.
They fire handguns, then hit us with heavy artillery attacks.
That's more the Vietnamese style of fighting. I believe the soldiers who are really in command are those troops who are descended from the Vietnamese.
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| Boonrueng: Battling vested interests |
2/05/2011
Bangkok Post
The Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes will be protracted, predicts Rajabhat University academic Boonrueng Katchama in Surin, the scene of the latest clashes.
Mr Boonrueng tells KING-OUA LAOHONG that the border conflict is unlikely to end any time soon because it is not a mere two-country affair.
Do you think any talks between 2nd Army commander Lt Gen Thawatchai Samutsakorn and Cambodia's Lt Gen Chea Mon, chief of the Cambodian 4th Region Army are likely to result in a ceasefire agreement?
A truce in the next couple of months will be hard to achieve. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen wants any talks to resolve the border conflict to be mediated by a third country.
He wants to include territorial disputes over the Ta Kwai and Ta Muen Thom temples in the wider process to settle the conflict.
Monday, March 07, 2011
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Viet Friends
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| Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com) |
Monday, February 21, 2011
Reflections on twenty years of the Paris Peace Accords
Monday, February 21, 2011
Op-Ed by Antoine Phirun Pich,
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Ottawa
Twenty years after the Paris Peace Accords were reached, Cambodia still faces the inherent challenges of an emerging democracy while its people have been allowed to enjoy a certain degree of liberty (at least compared with the Khmer Rouge genocidal regime of the mid-1970s or the decade-long Vietnamese occupation that followed). However, to the outside observer, the country remains far from the democratic society based on the rule of law that drafters of the accords could have legitimately expected. This is partly due to the initial political circumstances that lead to the absurd formation of a bicephalous first mandate government, or the hidden military agenda of one of the signatory countries indubitably involved in the 1997 coup.
It is beyond doubt that Vietnam’s hegemonic ambitions over Cambodia have been the most prevalent obstacle to the effective implementation of the peace accords in so far as it has contributed to the establishment of an open door policy for Vietnamese nationals to settle across the country’s (eastern) provinces, thereby jeopardizing unity, independence and national identity. Due to the ethno-demographic distribution of modern Cambodia and its clandestine subservience to the neighbouring government, there can be no doubt that the “Vietnamese factor” will forever remain inseparable from the Cambodian political landscape. But given today’s communications technologies and coercive principles of international law, whether Vietnam will truly succeed in annihilating Cambodia in the same way as in the past remains an open question.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Viets in Cambodia to celebrate Viet New Year, whereas ... Khmer Krom in South VN are not allowed to celebrate Pchum Ben
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| Comrade Mem Sam An |
30/01/2011
VOVNews/VNA
The Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia held a meeting to celebrate the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays on Jan. 28 in the capital city of Phnom Penh.
Attending the meeting were Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Men Sam An, heads of ministries and state agencies and overseas Vietnamese.
Speaking at the meeting, the Cambodian Deputy PM congratulated Vietnam on its successful 11th National Congress Party. She hailed the economic achievements the country had recorded during the last year as well as its investment activities in Cambodia, which, she said, have helped generate jobs for local residents.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Gifts for Viets in Cambodia, OPPRESSION for Khmer Krom in Vietnam
New Year gifts to Vietnamese expatriates in Cambodia
01/17/2011
VOV News (Hanoi)
01/17/2011
VOV News (Hanoi)
A delegation of the Vietnam Fund for Community Development has arrived in Cambodia to visit and present gifts to overseas Vietnamese (OVs) living in the country on the occasion of the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday.
The delegation, led by the Fund’s chairwoman Truong My Hoa, had working sessions with the Cambodian authorities in the provinces of Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong and Siem Reap in order to establish friendly relations between the authorities and the Vietnamese community there.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Illegal immigrants pour across border seeking work [... in China]
Sound familiar? It's happening in China, where rapid growth has led to a shortage of workers to fill low-skill jobs. But the Chinese don't seem to be concerned.
September 19, 2010
By David Pierson
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Aidian, China —
The illegal immigrants come seeking higher wages, steady employment and a chance at better lives for their families. They cross the border in remote stretches where there are no fences or they pay traffickers to sneak them past border guards.
Then they work as maids, harvest crops or toil hunched in sweatshops.
As familiar as this sounds, this is not the United States or Europe, but China, which is attracting an increasing number of undocumented workers to fill the bottom rungs of its booming economy. Tens of thousands of foreigners from Southeast Asia, North Korea and even faraway Africa are believed to be working here illegally.
Among the most active areas for the furtive crossings is China's 800-mile southern borders with Vietnam, whose people are drawn by jobs in China that may pay twice as much as they do at home.
"People are struggling for money in Vietnam. They look at China and think it's rich," said Anh Bang, a 23-year-old Vietnamese clothing merchant who travels legally to China several times a month but empathizes with those who enter without documents. "In China they can find a job easily and earn so much more."
Labor shortages in China's export-heavy eastern coastal regions are driving demand for foreign workers. So are Chinese workers' calls for higher wages, which are cutting into employers' profits.
"This is an economic phenomenon," said Zhang Wenshan, a professor of law at Guangxi University who has studied the rise of illegal workers. "It's globalization. Labor costs are increasing in China. This is hard on employers who don't necessarily need sophisticated laborers. So a lot of foreigners are motivated to come here.… It's like how many Chinese have gone to the U.S. to seek better lives."
It's an unlikely reversal for a country that until recently seemed to have an endless supply of cheap labor. But rapid development and urbanization are just as quickly raising workers' expectations. Young, rural Chinese have fled the farms for cities. Factory workers are choosing to strike rather than accept minimal pay. In their wake they're leaving openings that foreign workers are eager to fill.
With their numbers still relatively small and China's economy growing rapidly, illegal immigrants so far haven't been the lightning rod that they are in the United States. China has no social safety net to speak of, so there's no resentment of immigrants using public services.
Still, tensions are growing. The Chinese government, historically wary of foreigners, has granted permanent residency to only a few thousand migrants in the last three decades. Sporadic roundups of illegal workers are on the rise. Friction between authorities and African merchants exploded into a riot last year in the southern city of Guangzhou after police were accused of harassment.
Controlling the influx of illegal workers isn't easy, even for an authoritarian state. China shares a border with 14 countries. The nation famous for its Great Wall has virtually no fencing or barriers along this boundary, which stretches 13,670 miles through tropical forests, mountains and deserts.
"Beijing will start worrying if they're not worrying already," said Demetri Papademetriou, president of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. "But no country that reaches the status of China's economy doesn't go through this."
For many Vietnamese, the quest for the Chinese Dream often begins in border communities such as Aidian, a shabby village of 8,500 in the province of Guangxi, an under-developed region along the border with Vietnam.
On a recent rainy afternoon, two young men wearing basketball jerseys sat on plastic stools on the Chinese side of the border collecting 10,000 Vietnamese dong, about 50 cents, from a steady flow of people entering from the Vietnamese side. The visitors showed no documents, even though a passport and visa are required by law. The men collecting the entrance fees declined to say whom they worked for.
Wei Haiguang, a contractor whose business is just up the street from the border crossing, said corruption in the region was endemic. He said friends of his had helped guide Vietnamese workers into China at the bidding of employment agents, who pay about $30 for each laborer. Most of the foreigners are young, 17 to 20 years old.
The government "won't ever be able to control the border," said Wei, a stocky 38-year-old wearing Buddhist bracelets and an ivory pendant. "There's too many small roads and passes. Besides, who else is going to work in the fields?"
The job of Chinese authorities is particularly challenging here because it's tough to tell who's who. Members of the Zhuang ethnic minority group dominate parts of Guangxi and share a heritage and a distinct language with natives of northern Vietnam. Many Vietnamese also speak Cantonese, which helps them navigate the factory towns of Guangdong, where the language is the native tongue.
"There's really no big difference between the Vietnamese and us," said Qin Zhongjiang, who runs a health center in Chongzuo, a city 40 miles from the border whose central bus station often serves as a pick-up point for undocumented workers.
Chinese farmer Lu Qixue hires Vietnamese laborers before the autumn sugar cane harvest. For as long as five grueling months, the foreign workers put in 10-hour days thwacking sugar cane stalks with scythes.
"They work slowly and we always have to train them, but we can't find enough skilled Chinese," said Lu, a rail-thin 58-year-old village chief with gravelly stubble. "If we don't hire the Vietnamese we won't be able to grow as much."
A capable Chinese worker is paid about $9 a day. A Vietnamese hire gets just over $5. Lu said he has no choice but to rely on the illegal help because his three sons have no interest in working the fields. Two are contractors and one is a taxi driver.
"I don't want to carry sugar cane down the mountain," said his youngest son, Lu Xinghuan, 26, who aspires to own a trucking company. "It's hard work."
Labor activists said the increasing use of undocumented foreigners is undermining gains made with China's 2008 labor law regulating working hours and workplace conditions.
"These [foreign] workers have no legal protection at all and are often complicit with their employers in keeping their presence out of sight of the authorities," said Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for China Labor Bulletin. "If they are discovered they will be sent straight back to Vietnam unless the boss pays off the police. We have seen the same situation with child labor in the past."
Officially, businesses that hire undocumented aliens are fined as much as $7,352. Workers are fined $147 and face deportation.
Despite the crackdowns it remains to be seen whether illegal immigration will spark much resentment among the Chinese. Zhu Guanqiao, a restaurant owner from Guangzhou, was in Guangxi province recently on his way to a vacation in Vietnam. Waiting to cross the border with his 10-year-old son, he said he sympathized with the Vietnamese workers.
"Everyone has to eat," said Zhu, 38, standing near a border gate in the Chinese city of Pingxiang. "The Vietnamese are poor and their living standards are lower than ours. We're a richer country now. If they come here just to work, I think we should let them."
david.pierson@latimes.com
Nicole Liu and Angelina Qu in The Times' Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
September 19, 2010
By David Pierson
Los Angeles Times
Reporting from Aidian, China —
The illegal immigrants come seeking higher wages, steady employment and a chance at better lives for their families. They cross the border in remote stretches where there are no fences or they pay traffickers to sneak them past border guards.
Then they work as maids, harvest crops or toil hunched in sweatshops.
As familiar as this sounds, this is not the United States or Europe, but China, which is attracting an increasing number of undocumented workers to fill the bottom rungs of its booming economy. Tens of thousands of foreigners from Southeast Asia, North Korea and even faraway Africa are believed to be working here illegally.
Among the most active areas for the furtive crossings is China's 800-mile southern borders with Vietnam, whose people are drawn by jobs in China that may pay twice as much as they do at home.
"People are struggling for money in Vietnam. They look at China and think it's rich," said Anh Bang, a 23-year-old Vietnamese clothing merchant who travels legally to China several times a month but empathizes with those who enter without documents. "In China they can find a job easily and earn so much more."
Labor shortages in China's export-heavy eastern coastal regions are driving demand for foreign workers. So are Chinese workers' calls for higher wages, which are cutting into employers' profits.
"This is an economic phenomenon," said Zhang Wenshan, a professor of law at Guangxi University who has studied the rise of illegal workers. "It's globalization. Labor costs are increasing in China. This is hard on employers who don't necessarily need sophisticated laborers. So a lot of foreigners are motivated to come here.… It's like how many Chinese have gone to the U.S. to seek better lives."
It's an unlikely reversal for a country that until recently seemed to have an endless supply of cheap labor. But rapid development and urbanization are just as quickly raising workers' expectations. Young, rural Chinese have fled the farms for cities. Factory workers are choosing to strike rather than accept minimal pay. In their wake they're leaving openings that foreign workers are eager to fill.
With their numbers still relatively small and China's economy growing rapidly, illegal immigrants so far haven't been the lightning rod that they are in the United States. China has no social safety net to speak of, so there's no resentment of immigrants using public services.
Still, tensions are growing. The Chinese government, historically wary of foreigners, has granted permanent residency to only a few thousand migrants in the last three decades. Sporadic roundups of illegal workers are on the rise. Friction between authorities and African merchants exploded into a riot last year in the southern city of Guangzhou after police were accused of harassment.
Controlling the influx of illegal workers isn't easy, even for an authoritarian state. China shares a border with 14 countries. The nation famous for its Great Wall has virtually no fencing or barriers along this boundary, which stretches 13,670 miles through tropical forests, mountains and deserts.
"Beijing will start worrying if they're not worrying already," said Demetri Papademetriou, president of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute. "But no country that reaches the status of China's economy doesn't go through this."
For many Vietnamese, the quest for the Chinese Dream often begins in border communities such as Aidian, a shabby village of 8,500 in the province of Guangxi, an under-developed region along the border with Vietnam.
On a recent rainy afternoon, two young men wearing basketball jerseys sat on plastic stools on the Chinese side of the border collecting 10,000 Vietnamese dong, about 50 cents, from a steady flow of people entering from the Vietnamese side. The visitors showed no documents, even though a passport and visa are required by law. The men collecting the entrance fees declined to say whom they worked for.
Wei Haiguang, a contractor whose business is just up the street from the border crossing, said corruption in the region was endemic. He said friends of his had helped guide Vietnamese workers into China at the bidding of employment agents, who pay about $30 for each laborer. Most of the foreigners are young, 17 to 20 years old.
The government "won't ever be able to control the border," said Wei, a stocky 38-year-old wearing Buddhist bracelets and an ivory pendant. "There's too many small roads and passes. Besides, who else is going to work in the fields?"
The job of Chinese authorities is particularly challenging here because it's tough to tell who's who. Members of the Zhuang ethnic minority group dominate parts of Guangxi and share a heritage and a distinct language with natives of northern Vietnam. Many Vietnamese also speak Cantonese, which helps them navigate the factory towns of Guangdong, where the language is the native tongue.
"There's really no big difference between the Vietnamese and us," said Qin Zhongjiang, who runs a health center in Chongzuo, a city 40 miles from the border whose central bus station often serves as a pick-up point for undocumented workers.
Chinese farmer Lu Qixue hires Vietnamese laborers before the autumn sugar cane harvest. For as long as five grueling months, the foreign workers put in 10-hour days thwacking sugar cane stalks with scythes.
"They work slowly and we always have to train them, but we can't find enough skilled Chinese," said Lu, a rail-thin 58-year-old village chief with gravelly stubble. "If we don't hire the Vietnamese we won't be able to grow as much."
A capable Chinese worker is paid about $9 a day. A Vietnamese hire gets just over $5. Lu said he has no choice but to rely on the illegal help because his three sons have no interest in working the fields. Two are contractors and one is a taxi driver.
"I don't want to carry sugar cane down the mountain," said his youngest son, Lu Xinghuan, 26, who aspires to own a trucking company. "It's hard work."
Labor activists said the increasing use of undocumented foreigners is undermining gains made with China's 2008 labor law regulating working hours and workplace conditions.
"These [foreign] workers have no legal protection at all and are often complicit with their employers in keeping their presence out of sight of the authorities," said Geoffrey Crothall, a spokesman for China Labor Bulletin. "If they are discovered they will be sent straight back to Vietnam unless the boss pays off the police. We have seen the same situation with child labor in the past."
Officially, businesses that hire undocumented aliens are fined as much as $7,352. Workers are fined $147 and face deportation.
Despite the crackdowns it remains to be seen whether illegal immigration will spark much resentment among the Chinese. Zhu Guanqiao, a restaurant owner from Guangzhou, was in Guangxi province recently on his way to a vacation in Vietnam. Waiting to cross the border with his 10-year-old son, he said he sympathized with the Vietnamese workers.
"Everyone has to eat," said Zhu, 38, standing near a border gate in the Chinese city of Pingxiang. "The Vietnamese are poor and their living standards are lower than ours. We're a richer country now. If they come here just to work, I think we should let them."
david.pierson@latimes.com
Nicole Liu and Angelina Qu in The Times' Beijing Bureau contributed to this report.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Triet to help the illegal Yuon immigrants in Cambodia, but the Xmer leaders wouldn't ever dare talk about Khmer Krom plight to the Viets: Shameful!
Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet (R) is greeted upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport August 26, 2010. Triet arrived in Cambodia for a three-day visit on an invitation by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaPresident to help reduce poverty among Vietnamese in Cambodia
August, 27 2010
VNS
PHNOM PENH — The Party and State recognised their responsibility to reduce poverty and improve job security for the Vietnamese community in Cambodia, said President Nguyen Minh Triet yesterday.
"It is not only a matter for the Vietnamese community there alone," he said during a call at the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh, where he began a State visit at the invitation of Cambodian King Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni.
Triet also asked the embassy and other relevant organisations to take the lead in addressing the problem of legal status for Vietnamese people living in Cambodia.
He said he hoped that the community would always stand together, preserve Vietnamese traditional values and look towards their homeland.
The embassy had done a good job promoting bilateral ties between Viet Nam and Cambodia and providing support to Vietnamese enterprises operating in this neighbouring country, said the President.
Before leaving Laos earlier yesterday, Triet paid a visit to former Lao President Khamtay Siphandon in Champasak Province.
He expressed his pleasure at finding the former Lao President in good health and continuing to contribute to the development of relations between the two countries.
Triet affirmed that the Party, State and people of Viet Nam were delighted at the development achievements of Laos, which now averaged an economic growth rate of nearly 8 per cent, which was made possible thanks to the contribution of the former Lao President.
Viet Nam wished to continue fostering co-operation with Laos for the development of both countries, he said.
In reply, the former Lao President said the visit by President Triet would serve as a great encouragement as the people of Laos were preparing for their upcoming ninth Lao People's Revolutionary Party Congress.
He said he believed that the deep-rooted special Laos-Viet Nam relationship would be strengthened through exchange visits by leaders, ministries, agencies and local representatives from the two countries.
On the same day, Triet met diplomatic officials at the Vietnamese Consulate General in Champasak Province's Pakse District and representatives of the Vietnamese community in southern Laos.
He praised the contribution made by the consulate's diplomatic officials in fostering co-operation and friendship between the two countries.
Champasak was one of key economic hubs of Laos and had close relations with many Vietnamese localities, he stressed.
He urged the consulate to promote activities to select and support key Vietnamese businesses investing in Laos to help quicken the country's development.
Meeting with the Vietnamese community in Laos, Triet applauded their solidarity and contribution to the development of the country and hoped they would continue upholding Vietnamese traditions; opening more schools for Lao children, and promoting the friendship between the two countries.
"It is not only a matter for the Vietnamese community there alone," he said during a call at the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh, where he began a State visit at the invitation of Cambodian King Preah Bat Samdech Preah Boromneath Norodom Sihamoni.
Triet also asked the embassy and other relevant organisations to take the lead in addressing the problem of legal status for Vietnamese people living in Cambodia.
He said he hoped that the community would always stand together, preserve Vietnamese traditional values and look towards their homeland.
The embassy had done a good job promoting bilateral ties between Viet Nam and Cambodia and providing support to Vietnamese enterprises operating in this neighbouring country, said the President.
Before leaving Laos earlier yesterday, Triet paid a visit to former Lao President Khamtay Siphandon in Champasak Province.
He expressed his pleasure at finding the former Lao President in good health and continuing to contribute to the development of relations between the two countries.
Triet affirmed that the Party, State and people of Viet Nam were delighted at the development achievements of Laos, which now averaged an economic growth rate of nearly 8 per cent, which was made possible thanks to the contribution of the former Lao President.
Viet Nam wished to continue fostering co-operation with Laos for the development of both countries, he said.
In reply, the former Lao President said the visit by President Triet would serve as a great encouragement as the people of Laos were preparing for their upcoming ninth Lao People's Revolutionary Party Congress.
He said he believed that the deep-rooted special Laos-Viet Nam relationship would be strengthened through exchange visits by leaders, ministries, agencies and local representatives from the two countries.
On the same day, Triet met diplomatic officials at the Vietnamese Consulate General in Champasak Province's Pakse District and representatives of the Vietnamese community in southern Laos.
He praised the contribution made by the consulate's diplomatic officials in fostering co-operation and friendship between the two countries.
Champasak was one of key economic hubs of Laos and had close relations with many Vietnamese localities, he stressed.
He urged the consulate to promote activities to select and support key Vietnamese businesses investing in Laos to help quicken the country's development.
Meeting with the Vietnamese community in Laos, Triet applauded their solidarity and contribution to the development of the country and hoped they would continue upholding Vietnamese traditions; opening more schools for Lao children, and promoting the friendship between the two countries.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Sam Rainsy to all Cambodians: The major national issues are borders and Yuon immigrants
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy (Photo: Sovannara, RFI)27 July 2010
By Pech Bandol
Free Press Magazine Online
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer
In response to questions asked by Cambodians living throughout the world, including those who live in the American continent and in Europe (Austria, Finland, France, Norway), opposition leader Sam Rainsy – who is currently living in self-exile – told them that Cambodia is currently at the edge of a dangerous abyss due to border problems with Vietnam, as well as due to the illegal Viet immigrants.
You Saravuth, the former editor-in-chief of the pro-opposition Sralanh Khmer newspaper who had to flee Cambodia in 2006 stemming from a lawsuit initiated by Hun Xen’s nephew and who is currently living in Norway, indicated that during the video-conference meeting with Sam Rainsy on 25 July, the latter responded to numerous questions filed by overseas Cambodians on his personal situation, as well as the situation faced by Cambodia vis-à-vis her neighbors.
According to You Saravuth, Sam Rainsy discussed about his personal situation with the audience, including the restriction of freedom rights on regular citizens and opposition MPs by the government, the use of the court system to serve the interest of the rich and powerful so that these people can violate human rights and democracy. Sam Rainsy said that he is struggling to resolve these hot issues with the International communities, in particular with countries that are signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia.
Regarding the border issue, the situation is tense due to the encroachments from neighboring countries, in particular along the eastern borders with Vietnam. Because the Yuon government knows that the Phnom Penh regime is its puppet, the encroachments are still taking place. Cambodian territories where blatant encroachments can be observed are found in Svay Rieng, Takeo and Kanpong Cham provinces. Because the villagers dare to rise up to protest against the loss of their rice fields, Hun Xen’s regime went on to send them to jail, such was the case of Mr. Prum Chea and Mrs. Meas Srey. This situation creates fear among several Cambodian villagers living along the border who no longer dare to protest even though they know that the Yuons are encroaching on their rice fields, their only source of income. Sam Rainsy said that, up to now, he collected numerous map documents and testimonials which indicated that the Yuon indeed encroached on Cambodian territories through a blind eye by the Phnom Penh regime.
Regarding the illegal flow of Yuon immigrants to Cambodia, this is also a dangerous problem for Cambodia. Currently, there are more than 3 million Yuons living illegally in Cambodia. These Yuon communities receive close attention and support from the Yuon leaders, and they also being spoiled by the Phnom Penh regime as well.
This situation brings shame and major losses to the Cambodian interest, it is an act of national treason, of betrayal of the Cambodian people by the ruling CPP party. According to Sam Rainsy, the resolution of these problems can only be done through unity of the Cambodian people, the rightful owners of the country, and through an election change to salvage the country.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left Cambodia in 2009 following the uprooting of border stakes along the Yuon border. These stakes were planted as part of Yuon encroachments on rice fields belonging to Cambodian farmers in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province. Because of this case, Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia by the Svay Rieng provincial court to 2-year of jail time in January 2010.
Regarding his return to Cambodia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy told overseas Cambodians that it will depend on the resolution from the International community and he hoped that democratic countries in the world will not allow Hun Xen to go on with his misdeeds.
You Saravuth, the former editor-in-chief of the pro-opposition Sralanh Khmer newspaper who had to flee Cambodia in 2006 stemming from a lawsuit initiated by Hun Xen’s nephew and who is currently living in Norway, indicated that during the video-conference meeting with Sam Rainsy on 25 July, the latter responded to numerous questions filed by overseas Cambodians on his personal situation, as well as the situation faced by Cambodia vis-à-vis her neighbors.
According to You Saravuth, Sam Rainsy discussed about his personal situation with the audience, including the restriction of freedom rights on regular citizens and opposition MPs by the government, the use of the court system to serve the interest of the rich and powerful so that these people can violate human rights and democracy. Sam Rainsy said that he is struggling to resolve these hot issues with the International communities, in particular with countries that are signatories to the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement on Cambodia.
Regarding the border issue, the situation is tense due to the encroachments from neighboring countries, in particular along the eastern borders with Vietnam. Because the Yuon government knows that the Phnom Penh regime is its puppet, the encroachments are still taking place. Cambodian territories where blatant encroachments can be observed are found in Svay Rieng, Takeo and Kanpong Cham provinces. Because the villagers dare to rise up to protest against the loss of their rice fields, Hun Xen’s regime went on to send them to jail, such was the case of Mr. Prum Chea and Mrs. Meas Srey. This situation creates fear among several Cambodian villagers living along the border who no longer dare to protest even though they know that the Yuons are encroaching on their rice fields, their only source of income. Sam Rainsy said that, up to now, he collected numerous map documents and testimonials which indicated that the Yuon indeed encroached on Cambodian territories through a blind eye by the Phnom Penh regime.
Regarding the illegal flow of Yuon immigrants to Cambodia, this is also a dangerous problem for Cambodia. Currently, there are more than 3 million Yuons living illegally in Cambodia. These Yuon communities receive close attention and support from the Yuon leaders, and they also being spoiled by the Phnom Penh regime as well.
This situation brings shame and major losses to the Cambodian interest, it is an act of national treason, of betrayal of the Cambodian people by the ruling CPP party. According to Sam Rainsy, the resolution of these problems can only be done through unity of the Cambodian people, the rightful owners of the country, and through an election change to salvage the country.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy left Cambodia in 2009 following the uprooting of border stakes along the Yuon border. These stakes were planted as part of Yuon encroachments on rice fields belonging to Cambodian farmers in Koh Kban Kandal village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province. Because of this case, Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia by the Svay Rieng provincial court to 2-year of jail time in January 2010.
Regarding his return to Cambodia, opposition leader Sam Rainsy told overseas Cambodians that it will depend on the resolution from the International community and he hoped that democratic countries in the world will not allow Hun Xen to go on with his misdeeds.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Police deport illegal Vietnamese miners [... without imposing any punishment or sentencing]
Monday, 12 July 2010
Khouth Sophakchakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
Khouth Sophakchakrya
The Phnom Penh Post
AUTHORITIES in Ratanakkiri province have deported six Vietnamese miners who were arrested for entering Cambodia illegally.
Mar Vicheat, O’Yadav district’s police chief, said yesterday that the arrests were carried out during a Friday raid on a mining compound in Badal village. During the raid, police and military officials found nine machines that were being used to dig and pan for gold.
“After we received a call from the provincial governor, we sent all the arrested people back to provincial police headquarters,” he said.
It would have been difficult to transport the machines, so officials decided to destroy them in order to send a warning to other would-be miners in the area, he said.
Provincial Governor Pav Ham Phan declined to reveal the names of the men who were arrested, but said that all six were deported to Vietnam on Saturday.
“They are Vietnamese citizens, so we must send them back to their country and allow Vietnamese authorities to sentence them through their own institutional laws,” he said.
But Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said he doubted that the Vietnamese miners would be punished for their infractions.
“I suspect they will be released without being sentenced,” he said.
Mar Vicheat, O’Yadav district’s police chief, said yesterday that the arrests were carried out during a Friday raid on a mining compound in Badal village. During the raid, police and military officials found nine machines that were being used to dig and pan for gold.
“After we received a call from the provincial governor, we sent all the arrested people back to provincial police headquarters,” he said.
It would have been difficult to transport the machines, so officials decided to destroy them in order to send a warning to other would-be miners in the area, he said.
Provincial Governor Pav Ham Phan declined to reveal the names of the men who were arrested, but said that all six were deported to Vietnam on Saturday.
“They are Vietnamese citizens, so we must send them back to their country and allow Vietnamese authorities to sentence them through their own institutional laws,” he said.
But Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said he doubted that the Vietnamese miners would be punished for their infractions.
“I suspect they will be released without being sentenced,” he said.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Colony Within A Colony
Vietnamese merchant in Chong Khneas, on the Tonle Sap near Siem Reap (Photo: The Star)Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Op-Ed by MP
What is to be done with regard to the issue of Vietnamese settlers in Cambodia?
The plan to relocate some of the Vietnamese families now living in floating ‘villages’ should be greeted with qualified caution. Not only the proposed granting of substantial swathes of dry land required to relocate these people onto represents another slap in the face for the Khmer authority and people; such a measure will likely not provide any long term solution to the problem raised by the presence of these settlers if it merely involves a change in their physical location. For now, the relevant Khmer authority has at least recognised the environmental degradation/pollution caused by a cluster of these maritime settlements at the heart of the nation’s vital arteries and fishing reservoirs.
There are also observable practices within Vietnamese fishing communities that are not commensurate with or considered wholesome within the bounds of day to day health concern or acceptable taste such as the construction of private restrooms over fishing ponds and other public waterways. It would be harsh to condemn these folk for what they do or have to do as they, after all, live in an impoverished condition. Yet, it is fair to say that local authorities have not done enough on their behalf with regard to basic provisions such as health education and social awareness campaigns in respect of mainstream norms and values. What could be worse than a country’s lack of compassion is not having to repatriate these people back to where they came, having satisfied the law of the land that they have been here in breach of that law’s stipulations on cross border movement, but rather a wholesale neglect and inertia that make a complete mockery of self-professed ‘compassion’ towards the same people.
With this, and Vietnam’s frequent voicing of concern over ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia in mind, it is doubtful if the Cambodian authority could take a balanced, nuanced and just approach on this issue. Hanoi had conveyed its concern over ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia in the past to the then visiting co-PMs of Cambodia in the nineties. When some Vietnamese boat people sought a return back to Vietnam following an attack on some Vietnamese residents living in the vicinity of the Tonle Sap, they were barred from entering their native country by Vietnamese authority, declaring that ‘these people are practically Cambodians’.
While all this has been going on, it goes without saying that the fate of the much maligned Khmer Kroms has all been forgotten by governments on both sides of the border, albeit with one consistent exception: the 2 governments’ close collaboration on these indigenous people’s harassment and persecution in both states.
It will probably be impractical to sort out those Vietnamese who had a) lived in Cambodian prior to 1979, b) those who had been part of the general wave of migration to the country post 1979, and c) those who have been planted there as 'advisors' and infiltrators living and working in various guises throughout the Kingdom. Moreover, due to the general purging of public administrative documents and records by the Khmer Rouge, it is not even possible for Khmers to prove that they owned that plot of land, or indeed, that they are ethnic Khmers!
Some 30 years have passed since Vietnamese troops entered the country, followed closely behind by influx of Vietnamese civilians. It is enough time for any migrant new to a country to familiarise him/ herself with its language and customs and, most importantly, legalise their residency status and acquire the relevant paperwork.
The presence of the ethnic Vietnamese living in maritime communities all over Cambodia convey only their more visible profile - the majority of Vietnamese settlers have probably overtaken Sino-Khmers in trade and commerce and are now forming a dominant, formidable component of Cambodia's economy and polity which has been the backbone of this current regime in more ways than one. Most surviving Sino-Khmers had had to eke out a living with empty hands in 1979 and afterward, but this handicap hardly described the advantages enjoyed by thousands of Vietnamese who came to take command of the local economy with hard currency and investment capital, backed by their brethren in the ranks of the occupying Vietnamese military, particularly, in timber and mining industries as well as fisheries and construction, the last of which has been midwife to the general defacement of Cambodia's architectural scene, which, furthermore, has gone peacefully unnoticed by the country's uncultured elite.
A number of Western countries had opened their doors to a sizable influx of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees in the 1980s on humanitarian grounds. Cambodia does not have all the services and means enjoyed by these countries by which to ensure the integration process goes smoothly, but some of their experiences and measures used in assimilating new comers to their shores should set as guidelines for Cambodia to follow. One of the things these countries had had to do was to prevent newly arrived settlers from recreating the kind of conditions and habits that were not seen to be in social accord with those of their adopted community such as the emergence of slum colonies/ ghettoes and the social isolation that such confined settlements impose on younger generations preventing them from being fully assimilated into the mainstream community and be part to its social intercourse.
This is not an argument for outright suppression of ethnic diversity, nor of minority rights, but a call for a comprehensive study on how best various minority groups could be facilitated – assuming their presence in the country is not in any legal doubt, although, as I hinted, official corruption and political interference alone make it next to impossible to reach an equitable settlement – in their integration into Khmer society and culture without either doing violence to that culture or to those of their own.
It is probably not impossible to gather Cambodian public opinion on this sensitive subject, but whether their views count for something at all is immaterial here as the country’s public businesses do not proceed by public will or opinion. Nevertheless, we should try to steer the country towards a situation where all of its ethnic constituents could peacefully co-exist and be proud of their respective contribution to national evolution and growth, unburdened by undue political manipulation and interference by internal and external states.
Vietnamese associations and political leaders would do well to cease treating Cambodia as their private colony and stool for extending their geo-political consolidation across the region. Neither Cambodians nor any known nationalities past or present would remain content with a life on their own native soil where they are being increasingly marginalised and ostracised to the point of being second rate citizens.
The Khmer people have suffered more than enough not to be allowed to determine their own destiny and a place among the civilised world.
MP
The plan to relocate some of the Vietnamese families now living in floating ‘villages’ should be greeted with qualified caution. Not only the proposed granting of substantial swathes of dry land required to relocate these people onto represents another slap in the face for the Khmer authority and people; such a measure will likely not provide any long term solution to the problem raised by the presence of these settlers if it merely involves a change in their physical location. For now, the relevant Khmer authority has at least recognised the environmental degradation/pollution caused by a cluster of these maritime settlements at the heart of the nation’s vital arteries and fishing reservoirs.
There are also observable practices within Vietnamese fishing communities that are not commensurate with or considered wholesome within the bounds of day to day health concern or acceptable taste such as the construction of private restrooms over fishing ponds and other public waterways. It would be harsh to condemn these folk for what they do or have to do as they, after all, live in an impoverished condition. Yet, it is fair to say that local authorities have not done enough on their behalf with regard to basic provisions such as health education and social awareness campaigns in respect of mainstream norms and values. What could be worse than a country’s lack of compassion is not having to repatriate these people back to where they came, having satisfied the law of the land that they have been here in breach of that law’s stipulations on cross border movement, but rather a wholesale neglect and inertia that make a complete mockery of self-professed ‘compassion’ towards the same people.
With this, and Vietnam’s frequent voicing of concern over ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia in mind, it is doubtful if the Cambodian authority could take a balanced, nuanced and just approach on this issue. Hanoi had conveyed its concern over ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia in the past to the then visiting co-PMs of Cambodia in the nineties. When some Vietnamese boat people sought a return back to Vietnam following an attack on some Vietnamese residents living in the vicinity of the Tonle Sap, they were barred from entering their native country by Vietnamese authority, declaring that ‘these people are practically Cambodians’.
While all this has been going on, it goes without saying that the fate of the much maligned Khmer Kroms has all been forgotten by governments on both sides of the border, albeit with one consistent exception: the 2 governments’ close collaboration on these indigenous people’s harassment and persecution in both states.
It will probably be impractical to sort out those Vietnamese who had a) lived in Cambodian prior to 1979, b) those who had been part of the general wave of migration to the country post 1979, and c) those who have been planted there as 'advisors' and infiltrators living and working in various guises throughout the Kingdom. Moreover, due to the general purging of public administrative documents and records by the Khmer Rouge, it is not even possible for Khmers to prove that they owned that plot of land, or indeed, that they are ethnic Khmers!
Some 30 years have passed since Vietnamese troops entered the country, followed closely behind by influx of Vietnamese civilians. It is enough time for any migrant new to a country to familiarise him/ herself with its language and customs and, most importantly, legalise their residency status and acquire the relevant paperwork.
The presence of the ethnic Vietnamese living in maritime communities all over Cambodia convey only their more visible profile - the majority of Vietnamese settlers have probably overtaken Sino-Khmers in trade and commerce and are now forming a dominant, formidable component of Cambodia's economy and polity which has been the backbone of this current regime in more ways than one. Most surviving Sino-Khmers had had to eke out a living with empty hands in 1979 and afterward, but this handicap hardly described the advantages enjoyed by thousands of Vietnamese who came to take command of the local economy with hard currency and investment capital, backed by their brethren in the ranks of the occupying Vietnamese military, particularly, in timber and mining industries as well as fisheries and construction, the last of which has been midwife to the general defacement of Cambodia's architectural scene, which, furthermore, has gone peacefully unnoticed by the country's uncultured elite.
A number of Western countries had opened their doors to a sizable influx of Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian refugees in the 1980s on humanitarian grounds. Cambodia does not have all the services and means enjoyed by these countries by which to ensure the integration process goes smoothly, but some of their experiences and measures used in assimilating new comers to their shores should set as guidelines for Cambodia to follow. One of the things these countries had had to do was to prevent newly arrived settlers from recreating the kind of conditions and habits that were not seen to be in social accord with those of their adopted community such as the emergence of slum colonies/ ghettoes and the social isolation that such confined settlements impose on younger generations preventing them from being fully assimilated into the mainstream community and be part to its social intercourse.
This is not an argument for outright suppression of ethnic diversity, nor of minority rights, but a call for a comprehensive study on how best various minority groups could be facilitated – assuming their presence in the country is not in any legal doubt, although, as I hinted, official corruption and political interference alone make it next to impossible to reach an equitable settlement – in their integration into Khmer society and culture without either doing violence to that culture or to those of their own.
It is probably not impossible to gather Cambodian public opinion on this sensitive subject, but whether their views count for something at all is immaterial here as the country’s public businesses do not proceed by public will or opinion. Nevertheless, we should try to steer the country towards a situation where all of its ethnic constituents could peacefully co-exist and be proud of their respective contribution to national evolution and growth, unburdened by undue political manipulation and interference by internal and external states.
Vietnamese associations and political leaders would do well to cease treating Cambodia as their private colony and stool for extending their geo-political consolidation across the region. Neither Cambodians nor any known nationalities past or present would remain content with a life on their own native soil where they are being increasingly marginalised and ostracised to the point of being second rate citizens.
The Khmer people have suffered more than enough not to be allowed to determine their own destiny and a place among the civilised world.
MP
Friday, December 18, 2009
Hochimonk Tep Vong meets a communist religious oppressor?
Party leader meets with Cambodia’s top religious clerics
12/18/2009
VOV News (Hanoi)
Party leader Nong Duc Manh on December 18 visited Great Supreme Patriarch Samdec Tep Vong and Supreme Patriarch Samdec Bukri – leaders of the two Buddhist sects in Cambodia.
He said he is happy to see with his own eyes the dramatic changes Cambodia and its Buddhists have made during the past four years since his visit in March 2005.
He expressed his belief that the two sects will make greater contributions to Cambodia’s prosperity under the reign of King Norodom Sihamoni and the clear-sighted leadership of the Senate, the National Assembly and the government, as well as promoting the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Vietnam will do its utmost to maintain and develop their traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, said Mr Manh.
The two supreme patriarchs welcomed Mr Manh’s re-visit to Cambodia and expressed the belief that their bilateral relationship will develop further for the sake of peace, happiness and prosperity in each country.
They thanked the Vietnamese Party, government, people and volunteer soldiers for helping the Cambodian people escape the genocidal Pol Pot regime and for revitalizing Cambodia and its Buddhism in particular.
The same day, Mr Manh met with Vietnamese Embassy staff and Vietnamese nationals in Cambodia. He called on them to carry out practical activities to cement the time-honoured friendship and solidarity between the two nations, as well as to increase exchanges and cooperation in economics, trade, culture, education-training, and science-technology.
He encouraged Vietnamese nationals to turn their hearts and minds to their home country, preserve their traditional cultural identity and teach Vietnamese to the younger generation.
In the afternoon, he visited Preah Sihanouk province in southwest of Cambodia.
Earlier on December 17, King Norodom Sihamoni gave a royal banquet in honour of Party leader Manh and his entourage.
The King highlighted the importance of Mr Manh’s visit and expressed his hope that Vietnam will continue to share its experiences and provide development aid to Cambodia.
Mr Manh reaffirmed Vietnam’s determination to strengthen its traditional friendship with Cambodia, considering it an invaluable asset and an important factor behind the strength of the two nations.
Mr Manh began a three-day visit to Cambodia on December 17 at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.
He said he is happy to see with his own eyes the dramatic changes Cambodia and its Buddhists have made during the past four years since his visit in March 2005.
He expressed his belief that the two sects will make greater contributions to Cambodia’s prosperity under the reign of King Norodom Sihamoni and the clear-sighted leadership of the Senate, the National Assembly and the government, as well as promoting the relationship between Vietnam and Cambodia.
Vietnam will do its utmost to maintain and develop their traditional friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Cambodia, said Mr Manh.
The two supreme patriarchs welcomed Mr Manh’s re-visit to Cambodia and expressed the belief that their bilateral relationship will develop further for the sake of peace, happiness and prosperity in each country.
They thanked the Vietnamese Party, government, people and volunteer soldiers for helping the Cambodian people escape the genocidal Pol Pot regime and for revitalizing Cambodia and its Buddhism in particular.
The same day, Mr Manh met with Vietnamese Embassy staff and Vietnamese nationals in Cambodia. He called on them to carry out practical activities to cement the time-honoured friendship and solidarity between the two nations, as well as to increase exchanges and cooperation in economics, trade, culture, education-training, and science-technology.
He encouraged Vietnamese nationals to turn their hearts and minds to their home country, preserve their traditional cultural identity and teach Vietnamese to the younger generation.
In the afternoon, he visited Preah Sihanouk province in southwest of Cambodia.
Earlier on December 17, King Norodom Sihamoni gave a royal banquet in honour of Party leader Manh and his entourage.
The King highlighted the importance of Mr Manh’s visit and expressed his hope that Vietnam will continue to share its experiences and provide development aid to Cambodia.
Mr Manh reaffirmed Vietnam’s determination to strengthen its traditional friendship with Cambodia, considering it an invaluable asset and an important factor behind the strength of the two nations.
Mr Manh began a three-day visit to Cambodia on December 17 at the invitation of King Norodom Sihamoni.
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