Sambok Khmum radio will broadcast the commemoration ceremony of the loss of Kampuchea Krom live from France

Source: Radio Free Asia
Reported in English by Khmerization

Radio Sambok Khmum has indicated that it will broadcast the commemoration ceremony of the loss of Kampuchea Krom live from France on the 13th of June, reports Radio Free Asia.

Mr. Mam Sonando, director and owner of Radio Sombok Khmum, said that this live broadcast is purely a Khmer issue and he doesn't believe that it will affect the relations between Hanoi and Phnom Penh.

He said: "I am only fufilling my duty. My duty is to broadcast the activities of the Khmer Krom people to in the defence of their freedom, this is the first point. Secondly, I believe that the Khmer krom issue is 100% a Cambodian issue. Thirdly, this is relating to the history of Kampuchea Krom which we need to let all Khmers know clearly about the Khmer Krom issues. Why Kampuchea Krom was put under the Vietnamese control and why do we have the issue of Kampuchea Krom? Why did I say that it is an issue for all Khmers? Because France was the one who ceded the Kampuchea Krom territories to Vietnam, but France never ceded the Khmer Krom people to the Vietnamese rule?"

Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach, president of the Khmer Krom Federation, said that the commemoration ceremony was held as a way to ask the EU to put pressures on Vietnam to respect the human rights of Khmer Krom people and to give self-determination to Khmer Krom people.

He said of the reason why the commemoration service is being held in France: "First, this is important because it is the 60th anniversary of the loss of Kampuchea Krom. Secondly, France is a country that ceded the territory of Kampuchea Krom to Vietnam. We came here because we have a cooperation from the UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples' Organisation), the cooperation of the Centre for Human Rights of Hawaii and we have invited the representatives of the EU and the UN and a number of international legal experts to attend the ceremony. So, we would like to use this 60th anniversary as an event to launch our protest through legal channels, to make a protest through the 21 committees in order to reverse the Vietnamese colonisation of Kampuchea Krom. Thirdly, we urge the UN Human Right Council in Geneva to take up the issues of human right abuses in Kampuchea Krom. Fourthly, we will push for the issues (above) to be resolved through judicial channels."

Kampuchea Krom is a former Khmer territory consisting of 21 provinces inhabited by about 12 million Khmer Krom people. It was ceded to Vietnam by the French colonial authority on the 4th of June, 1949.

Khmer Krom meet in Australia to raise the awareness of Khmer Krom sufferings

Khmer Krom monks protested the in Phnom Penh about the maltreatment of Khmer Krom people by Vietnam and in turn was being chased and beaten by Cambodian police on 17th Dec, 2007.

6th December, 2008
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization

Buddhist monks and Khmer Krom Federation activists from 6 countries, including the United States, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Australia and also from Cambodia have met on Saturday in Melbourne, Australia to show the sufferings of Khmer Krom people to the world as they are waging a legal struggle to take back Kampuchea Krom.

Chairman of the Khmer Krom Buddhist Federation, Venerable Ly Pov, said from Australia that the meeting this Saturday is to raise the awareness of the sufferings of Khmer Krom under the yoke of the Vietnamese colonisation in order to coincide with the 60th International Day of Human Rights.

The Venerable Ly Pov said: “All the delegates will come from all the countries. They will raise the awareness about the communist Vietnamese oppression on the Khmer Krom people who have been oppressed by Vietnam for a long, long time, many centuries ago. Khmer Krom, as we all know, have suffered miserably. Nowadays, it is because we have the Buddha, the Dharma, the monks and the Buddhist temples there that keep Kampuchea Krom still existed until today. But these people are ruled by communist Vietnam. So, Khmer Krom all over the world such as in the United States, Canada, France, New Zealand and Australia have gather to show the sufferings and the tragedy of Khmer Krom to the world, the UN, local and foreign guests see how bad communist Vietnam treated the Khmer Krom people.”

According to history, Kampuchea Krom was officially ceded to Vietnam by the French protectorate authority on 4th June, 1949.

The Khmer Krom Federation, an organisation that is waging a diplomatic and legal struggle to take back Kampuchea Krom, hopes that the raising of awareness of Khmer Krom sufferings through various international meetings will help convince the world community to help return Kampuchea Krom back to Cambodia’s control.//