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Description/Background of Cambodian Community Refugee University of Massachusetts Amherst From the SelectedWorks of Benjamin Bailey 2000 Description/background of Cambodian community refugee pathways and selectiono processes and the Providence community Benjamin Bailey, University of Massachusetts-Amherst Available at: https://works.bepress.com/benjamin_bailey/64/ Benjamin’s September 1999 (updated 6/2000) Description/Background of Cambodian Community Refugee pathways and selection processes and the Providence community Background History and Refugee Processes Cambodia became a French protectorate/colony in 1863. It achieved independence under French- supported Prince Sihanouk in 1953. In 1970, prime minister Lon Nol led a coup d’etat replacing Sihanouk. From 1970-1975 there was increased involvement in the Vietnam War as well as on-going civil war between the government and various(?) groups including the Khmer Rouge, who gained control of the country in 1975. It is estimated that 600,000 to 800,000 Cambodians were killed during this 1970-1975 period (Mortland 1996:235) and many people, e.g. along the Vietnam border, were in flight, so the country was already experiencing violence and displacement long before the Khmer Rouge gained power. Under the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1978 it is estimated that between 700,000 and two million more people died than would have under normal conditions during this period. Vickery (in Mortland 1996:236) suggests that half of these died of illness, starvation, and overwork and half were executed. Between 1 in 5 and 1 in 8 Cambodians thus died during this period. Executions and persecution were selective, aimed at those with the resources to oppose the regime, particularly the small educated class (in a country with very low levels of overall education). Specifically, the Khmer Rouge sought out for special torture and killing anyone with education, including anyone who spoke French (since it was learned only in school and represented education), monks (as dual symbols of Buddhism and intellect), and schoolteachers (Hopkins 1996:131). Many of the individuals who would have been best positioned to thrive educationally and socio- economically in the United States--urban, educated, and Western-oriented--were thus killed. It has been suggested that ethnic Chinese were not more specifically targeted than other urban/business groups because the Khmer Rouge were backed by the People’s Republic of China. Refugee Waves Researchers describe several waves of people fleeing Cambodia, each wave with distinctive socioeconomic character, and corresponding various waves of refugees arriving in the United States. Escapees (Mortland 1996:238-9) Wave 1: 1975 before Khmer Rouge came to power: 35,000 to Thailand and 150,000 to Vietnam; virtually all resettled in France, US, Canada, Australia--officials, professionals, moneyed or aristocratic classes; some farmers and townspeople near western border. The few members of the Providence community who got out by 1975, e.g. Sina Bieu and Kai Lee (spelling?), form a significant part of the small educated elite. Wave 2: December 1978--early months of 1979--Vietnam invasion--100,000 fled West to Thailand--a cross-section of people Wave 3: late Spring ‘79 to early months of 1980; worsening food shortages and famine, rumors of food on the Thai- Cambodian border; UN began distributing food, tools, and seed rice at the border encouraging people to stay in Cambodia; as many as 1 million came to the border area These people were very unlike immigrants in that they were seeking temporary refuge and were not looking to emigrate and were not drawn to any third country: When Cambodians in these first three waves fled their country, they were not thinking of migration. They were thinking of temporary refuge, then of eventually returning home, of finding their children and parents, of finding food. They feared the Khmer Rouge, they feared the Vietnamese, they feared everything Cambodian had become. ...They were thinking they would die if they stayed in Cambodia, and going was the only alternative they saw. This was especially true of those who fled to Thailand immediately after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Only later did Cambodians begin traveling to the border in order to gain admittance to a Thai refugee camp and, ultimately, resettlement in the United States. As the months passed, an increasing number of Cambodians began to see resettlement to a Western country as a possibility, even a goal (Mortland 1996:239). Kunz (1973) differentiates between immigrants and refugees in that immigrants experience a “pull” of another destination while refugees experience only a “push” of conditions in the home country. He also differentiates between “anticipatory” refugees and “acute” refugees. Anticipatory refugees have more resources, know the situation is deteriorating, and get out early, going straight to a destination country Acute refugee movements contrast with anticipatory movements sharply both in their selectiveness and their kinetics. Acute refugee movements arise from great political changes or movements of armies. The refugees flee either in mass or, if their flight is obstructed, in bursts of individual or group escapes, and their primary purpose is to reach safety in a neighboring or nearby country which will grant them asylum. The emphasis is on the escape and at the time of passing through the border few refugees partaking in acute movements are aware that later further migration will become a necessity (1973:132). People making their way to camps in the 1980’s may have been oriented toward resettlement, but they were generally unsuccessful, even after many years in the camps. Wave 4: This was much smaller wave during the 1980’s, most of whom were unsuccessful in their attempt to resettle in a third country. In 1992-1993, 362,000 Cambodians were forcibly trucked to Cambodia from Thailand as part of UN brokered peace agreement Resulting waves of resettled refugees (and eventually, immigrants) to the US : Wave 1 1975-77: 6000 people, most of them from the educated and urbanized middle class and most connected to Americans (e.g. had worked for American organizations) or the Vietnam War. Wave 2 Late 1970’s; 10,000 without such connections who had fled before the KR came to power, and hadn’t experienced the KR time, e.g. farmers and townspeople living near the Western border (with Thailand) Wave 3 1980-1986--This period accounts for the vast majority of refugees resettled in the US (see the year-by-year breakdown, below). These refugees had fled during the collapse of the Khmer Rouge during and after the Vietnamese invasion, in 1979-1980. Wave 4 1987-present--Much smaller groups coming as immigrants rather than refugees, through family reunification. (I have not found INS numbers for these, but they must exist.) Although there were about 10 camps around the Thai border after 1979, only one, Khao I Dang, was a route to third country resettlement for those who didn’t have connections, e.g. relatives, to sponsor them. (Providence Cambodians who made it to the US from other camps might be assumed to have greater social capital, e.g. connections to relatives or US organizations abroad or the Lon Nol military. This greater social capital should translate into greater socio-economic mobility in the US.) Khao I Dang was run by the UN High Commission on Refugees. The others were controlled by Cambodian political/military factions, including the Khmer Rouge. Khao I Dang was thus the safest, healthiest, etc. camp. One Providence informant who had arrived at Khao I Dang at age 13 said he “liked” the camp, even though it was a little like a jail. He said there was food and he could go to school, and after school he could go to the temple, all of which he hadn’t been able to do in Cambodia. Khao I Dang had over 100,000 people in January 1980, 130,000 by May 1980. Just about everyone was able to be resettled except for ca. 10,000 who were alleged to have had connections to the Khmer Rouge. Cambodians I talked to in Providence were in camps 2-5 years, including 6 months in special orientation and English language camps (many did this in the Philippines) immediately prior to coming to the US. (I found no ethnographies or detailed descriptions of Cambodian camps. Mortland (1987) describes a Phillipine processing center.) Large numbers of refugees were possible after 1980 because of the 1980 Refugee Act under Carter. Each year the president, with congressional approval, set ceilings for the numbers of refugees to be admitted, and Carter immediately raised ceilings. Mortland (1996:252-253) gives the following figures for Cambodian refugee resettlement in the US, drawing from various sources (I don’t think this includes later, family sponsored immigration) 1975 4,600 1976 1,100 1977 300 1978 1,300 1979 6,000 1980 16,000 1981 27,100 1982 20,234 1983 13,115 1984 19,851 1985 19,097 1986 9,789 1987 1,539 1988 2,805 1989 1,916 1990 2,166 1991 38 1992 141 1993 22 The largest resettlement years were thus 1980-1986. The earlier waves of more educated refugees and those who had not experienced the physical and emotional trauma of the Khmer Rouge years were much smaller. Smith-Hefner (1999) suggests that the early, more educated refugees ended up primarily in DC, NY, CA (Long Beach being the largest Cambodian community in the US), and France. A linguistic (self-)selection process occurred in the camps, especially with the first waves of refugees (who were generally resettled in France, Australia, the US, and Canada): When opportunities came to go to a third country [from the camps], there was a further filtering on the basis of education. Those who had some higher education knew French, not English, and so often chose to go to France; consequently many of those who came to the United States were often those with less education or less choice (Hopkins 1996:132).
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