Vietnamese immigrants gathered for a religious ceremony in Phnom Penh October 2010.By Khmerization
Source: RFA
The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) plans to lodge a complaint with the National Election Committee (NEC) at the closure of registration period on 15th October after local authority allowed thousands of Vietnamese immigrants to register to vote.
Mr. Nov Phalla, vice-president of the SRP and election monitor for SRP in Poipet, claimed that the Poipet district authority in Banteay Meanchey province has issued thousands of Vietnamese immigrants, who are not Cambodian citizens, with identification papers, including Family Book and personal ID card, so they could register to vote. "So, what does Immigration Laws used to identify a Cambodian citizenship? They (Vietnamese) have identification papers and they have conspired with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to obtain all relevant documents for all the Vietnamese throughout the country. They have not fulfilled their obligations as legal Cambodian citizens yet which obligated them to contribute 25-35 million riels (Aprox. $6250-$8750) to the national budget that is required to become a Cambodian citizen. These Vietnamese immigrants who came to live in Cambodia worked as shoes-shiners, collectors and sellers of scraps and other minor trades, so how could they (have the money to) fulfill the citizenship obligation?", he said.
Mr. San Sean Ho, chief of Poipet district, admitted that there are Vietnamese immigrants registering to vote, but said they are all holders of Cambodian identification papers. He said that these Vietnamese had all the documents to register to vote since before the UNTAC-organised election 1993 and can also speak Khmer properly. "There are 200 Vietnamese families living as immigrants in Poipet, but they can't enrol to vote because they did not have proper documents. Their (the SRP) attitude is that they don't understand anything, they just do things for the benefits of their party. They (the SRP activists) dare to complain, dare to do anything to get praises from their party. They are good, they are strong but they did not follow the directions and guidance of the NEC", he said.
A motor-taxi driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he estimated that between 20-25% of Poipet's population are Vietnamese. "According to my observation, in Poipet about 20-25% of the population are Vietnamese. When I asked them, some said they have all ID papers, some said they have voting registration papers and some said they don't have any papers. Some people, when they see Khmer Krom they think that they are Vietnamese. They came here very long time ago and they speak Khmer with an accent like Khmer Surin, so people can confuse them as Khmer Surin also", he said.
Up to now, there are more than 7000 people in Poipet and about 35,778 people throughout Banteay Meanchey province have registered to vote.
Source: RFA
The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) plans to lodge a complaint with the National Election Committee (NEC) at the closure of registration period on 15th October after local authority allowed thousands of Vietnamese immigrants to register to vote.
Mr. Nov Phalla, vice-president of the SRP and election monitor for SRP in Poipet, claimed that the Poipet district authority in Banteay Meanchey province has issued thousands of Vietnamese immigrants, who are not Cambodian citizens, with identification papers, including Family Book and personal ID card, so they could register to vote. "So, what does Immigration Laws used to identify a Cambodian citizenship? They (Vietnamese) have identification papers and they have conspired with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) to obtain all relevant documents for all the Vietnamese throughout the country. They have not fulfilled their obligations as legal Cambodian citizens yet which obligated them to contribute 25-35 million riels (Aprox. $6250-$8750) to the national budget that is required to become a Cambodian citizen. These Vietnamese immigrants who came to live in Cambodia worked as shoes-shiners, collectors and sellers of scraps and other minor trades, so how could they (have the money to) fulfill the citizenship obligation?", he said.
Mr. San Sean Ho, chief of Poipet district, admitted that there are Vietnamese immigrants registering to vote, but said they are all holders of Cambodian identification papers. He said that these Vietnamese had all the documents to register to vote since before the UNTAC-organised election 1993 and can also speak Khmer properly. "There are 200 Vietnamese families living as immigrants in Poipet, but they can't enrol to vote because they did not have proper documents. Their (the SRP) attitude is that they don't understand anything, they just do things for the benefits of their party. They (the SRP activists) dare to complain, dare to do anything to get praises from their party. They are good, they are strong but they did not follow the directions and guidance of the NEC", he said.
A motor-taxi driver, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he estimated that between 20-25% of Poipet's population are Vietnamese. "According to my observation, in Poipet about 20-25% of the population are Vietnamese. When I asked them, some said they have all ID papers, some said they have voting registration papers and some said they don't have any papers. Some people, when they see Khmer Krom they think that they are Vietnamese. They came here very long time ago and they speak Khmer with an accent like Khmer Surin, so people can confuse them as Khmer Surin also", he said.
Up to now, there are more than 7000 people in Poipet and about 35,778 people throughout Banteay Meanchey province have registered to vote.
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