Information AboutKhmer Krom |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT KHMER KROM | |
| ethnic groups in cambodia | |
| ethnic groups in vietnam | |
| minorities | |
| divided regions | |
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ORIGINS Khmer Krom, ethnically the same as the Khmer people of Cambodia , are descendants of the Khmer that inhabited the delta of the Mekong prior to the arrival of the Vietnamese. Beginning in the 17th century, the colonization of the area by Vietnamese settlers migrating south has isolated the Khmer from their brethren in Cambodia proper and resulted in the native Khmer becoming a minority in that part of their homeland. According to Vietnamese government figures (1999 census), Khmer Krom are 1,055,174 people. However, this number is disputed as a gross underestimate by Khmer Krom organizations. HISTORY The plight of the Khmer Krom has been a contentious issue between the governments of Vietnam and Cambodia. After the French conquest in 1859 , the French colonial administration confirmed the separation of the Mekong delta from the rest of Cambodia, administering it as the separate colony of Cochinchina , despite the fact that the Khmer Krom were still largely the majority in the area at the time. When independence was granted to French Indochina in 1954 , the delta of the Mekong was given to the state of South Vietnam , despite protests from Cambodia. In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer those areas of the delta still predominantly inhabited by Khmer Krom people, but this military adventure was a total disaster and precipitated the downfall of the Khmer Rouge, with Vietnam occupying Cambodia. CURRENT SITUATION Many independent NGO s have reported violations of Khmer Krom's human rights by the Vietnamese government. Khmer Krom are reportedly forced to Vietnamize and adopt Vietnamese family names and Vietnamese Language . Education of Khmer Krom is neglected and they face many hardships in their everyday life, such as difficulty to access Vietnamese health services (recent epidemics of blindness affecting children have been reported in the predominantly Khmer Krom areas of the Mekong delta), difficulty to practice their own religion (Khmer Krom are Theravada Buddhists, like Cambodian and Thai people, but unlike Vietnamese who are Mahayana Buddhists or Catholics ), difficulty to find jobs outside of the fields, racism, and so on. Khmer Krom are the poorest segment of population of southern Vietnam. Unlike other minority people groups of Vietnam, the Khmer Krom are largely unknown in the western world, despite efforts by associations of exiled Khmer Krom such as the Khmers Kampuchea Krom Federation to publicize their issues with the Unrepresented Nations And Peoples Organisation . However, no western government has raised the matter of the Khmer Krom's human rights with the Vietnamese government. EXTERNAL LINKS
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