KHMERS KAMPUCHEA-KROM FEDERATION
Asia – Australia – Europe – North America
P.O.Box 193
Pennsauken, NJ 08110, U.S.A
Email: thach.thach@khmerkrom.org - http://www.khmerkrom.org

Urgent Appeal: Land Protests Spirals Out of Control as Vietnam Authorities Shoot Khmer-Krom Farmers Down

Wednesday 9 April 2008

To Whom It May Concern:

Chau Lang commune, Svay Tong district, Moat Chrouk (renamed An Giang) province - What started as a peaceful gathering by Khmer-Krom farmers seeking an explanation to why a bridge was destroyed has turned into a full scale crackdown by Vietnamese officials starting yesterday.

At 10pm local Vietnam time, 7 April 2008, over 10 cars were deployed by Vietnamese authorities to arrest Mr. Chau Hen, aged 55. He was interviewed by Radio Free Asia in the Khmer program (citizens are prohibited from listening to such programs) on 7 April 2008.

The villagers attempted to protect Mr. Chau Hen by gathering in a large and Vietnamese police left the area.

They returned however in full force in the early hours (approximately 2:30am) of 8 April 2008 in a second attempt to arrest Mr. Chau Hen.

Armed with guns, the Vietnamese police started to discharge gunshots to scare villagers away from Mr. Chau Hen. A smoke bomb made of unknown substance was thrown into the home of Mr. Chau Hen rendering his 4 children immediately unconscious.

Some of the farmers were wounded when the gunshots directly hit them. Amongst the injured was Mr. Hen’s family, his wife, aged 55, Neang Phon, his nephews, Chau Kha and Chau Ban who were shot in the leg.

Two other victims, Chau Nhung and Chau An have bleeding head wounds, one claiming that they were stabbed by the Vietnamese authorities.

Mr. Chau Ut house was also targeted by the authorities who smashed their way through his house seeking documents. During the time, Neang Nhay, Chau Thi, Chau Ut’s mother and the brother of Chau Ut was in the house and received injuries as result of the attack. Since the attack, he has been reported missing.

Mrs. Neang Phon has reported to RFA on 9 April 08, 20082 that the victims of the crackdown was refused medical aid.

On behalf of the Khmer-Krom farmers, especially the victims, Mr. Chau Hen and his family, we urgently appeal for your support to condemn acts of violence against the defenceless Khmer-Krom farmers by the Vietnam authorities.

We urgently ask for your intervention by helping to investigate and seek the justice for the Khmer-Krom farmers. We also ask for your help to pressure Vietnam to give immediate medical compensation for the victims of the shooting.

Please help us help them in this difficult time.

Thank you for your kind attention. We are looking forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully Yours,

Thach Ngoc Thach
President of Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation

References:

1. RFA Broadcast 07 April 2008
Link to a translation by khmerization (not officially by RFA) regarding to the oppression on April 7.
2. RFA Broadcasted 09 April 2008

Khmers Krom in Moat Chrouk Province Protested About Lands

27th March 2008
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Khmerization
On the web at http://khmerization.blogspot.com

About 100 Khmers Krom from Svay Tong district, An Giang, or as Khmers called it Moat Chrouk, Province have on Thursday peacefully protested on their lands to request the Vietnamese authority to return their lands back to them.

In the mean time, there are about 500 other Khmers Krom protesting for the same reason in front of the city hall of Chau Laing commune, Svay Tong district of An Giang province of Vietnam for the return of 4,000 hectares of their farmlands which belonged to 500 families.

Mr. Chau Hen, a Khmer Krom living in Chau Laing commune of Svay Tong district, An Giang province told Radio Free Asia by telephone from the protest site on Thursday that: “We have come down to our ancestral lands to request for their returns. The Vietnamese government didn’t want to return these lands to us. They have promised to resolve this issue by harvest season (November) but they just lied to us in order to exploit us, but they did not resolve anything for us.”

A woman, whose name is Neang Hean, who is also protesting, has described about the reason for the protest like this: “We have come to protest about our lands. Everyday, I don’t have any lands to farm so I have to work for other people. They didn’t resolve the issue for us.”

According to the sources, those more than 500 Khmer Krom families have lost approximately 4,000 hectares of their lands since 1975 when they escaped to Cambodia due to fighting between the Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge forces. In 1980 and 1981 they returned to their ancestral lands but their lands were confiscated. Their fights for the returns of their lands have begun since 2001 but there was no resolution.

Mr Trinh Ba Cam, spokesman for the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia, said: “The problems of land disputes happened everywhere due to developments, but they are not due to the confiscations of lands or other issues.”

In relation to the above Khmer Krom protests, Mr. Thach Setha, chairman of the Khmer Krom Association in Cambodia said: “The claims that there are no confiscations of lands from the (Khmer Krom) people are incorrect because these actions have been carried out since 1976, 1977, 1978. Especially in 1978.”

According to the sources, these peaceful protests by the Khmer Krom to request for the returns of their lands on the morning of Thursday went on for about 5 hours and the protests were called off when the local Vietnamese authorities in Chau Laing commune did not show up to resolve the issues or receive their complaints. And there were about 10 Vietnamese government secret agents who were sent to take photographs of the protesters, but there were no violence or crackdown.