Many ethnic Vietnamese live in floating villages such as this one in Kandeang district, Pursat province. Heng Chivoan
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy yesterday said that up to a quarter of a million ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia could be granted full citizenship rights via the Nationality Law if his Cambodia National Rescue Party were to come to power.
The CNRP president has sought in recent months, through a flurry of letters to newspapers and online postings, to cast off what he calls a groundless “foreign-entertained allegation” of anti-Vietnamese sentiment levelled at him and his party.
His most recent comments regarding the citizenship rights of some ethnic Vietnamese come after the Cambodian People’s Party-led government announced the creation of two new departments in the Ministry of Interior to control immigration and the issuance of identity documents.
The CPP’s platform for next month’s councillor elections also promises to address problems related to immigration and make it easier for identity documents to be obtained by those who require them.
The moves have led analysts to conclude that the ruling party is trying to catch up with public opinion regarding long-term unchecked illegal immigration from Vietnam, a hot-button issue for many who voted for the CNRP – which has talked about the issue extensively, despite it not appearing on the party’s policy platform – at last July’s disputed national election.
Speaking with the Post yesterday on the phone from Europe, where he is due to attend a political party conference in the Netherlands next week, Rainsy said he believed there were around 500,000 people “of Vietnamese descent” living in Cambodia, half of whom were eligible for Cambodian citizenship via birth.
“According to me I think that up to half of these 500,000 people of Vietnamese descent fulfil the legal requirement to be considered as Cambodian citizens. So the CNRP, we must treat those who meet the requirement to be Cambodian citizens, as Cambodian citizens,” he said.
The 1996 Nationality Law outlines that Cambodian nationality can be obtained by anyone born in Cambodia to foreign parents, if they too were “born and living legally” in the Kingdom.
But rights groups say it would be difficult for many immigrant parents to prove legal residence, given the state of Cambodia’s legal and administrative system.
In line with the laws, the CNRP wishes to “curb illegal immigration” but from a legal humanitarian standpoint, Rainsy said.
“We have to be nuanced [and] make the distinction between people of Vietnamese descent who must be treated as Cambodian [and illegal immigrants]. When the CNRP comes to power we will recognise that right officially.”
While many Cambodians are fearful and suspicious of Vietnam due to historical grievances, a feeling “hastily, unfairly and inaccurately” attributed to racism by many foreigners, the CNRP would work to educate the public to respect ethnic Vietnamese citizens, Rainsy says.
“We will educate Cambodian people as a whole to respect those people . . . Those who were wrongly considered as foreigners. We must educate Khmer people, these are Khmer citizens as you and I and we must respect their rights,” he said.
“But other people who come illegally without documents, we have to deal with them properly and the basis will not be different from [what] Europe or America uses to deal with immigration.”
According to Ang Chanrith, executive director at the Minority Rights Organization, most ethnic Vietnamese were born in Cambodia do not possess citizenship, “except those who are rich or well connected”.
In comparison to Rainsy’s figure of 500,000, Chanrith estimates that about 700,000 ethnic Vietnamese live in Cambodia, but he said there is no solid data on population figures or what proportion of the group were born in the Kingdom compared to those “who come for political and economic purposes”.
Chanrith said that he hoped the government’s new commitment to improving immigration oversight was genuine, and not just to gain votes.
According to its political platform for next month’s council elections, the CPP is promising to “resolve the problem of immigrants, control immigrants and more effectively resolve the problem of crimes [committed by foreigners] in accordance with the existing laws”.
Cheam Yeap, a senior CPP lawmaker, said his party is committed to implementing existing laws and controlling immigration flows “for the benefit of the nation”.
“We are the ruling party and the government is paying strong attention to control immigration in order to avoid criticisms from the people and the opposition party,” he said.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak last week said that a new general department of immigration would allow the government to increase its capacity to process migrant applications with greater oversight from the ministry.
Veteran political analyst Lao Mong Hay said yesterday that while it was clear the CPP was “trying to catch up with public opinion” and gain lost votes with the new measures, the opposition was also courting voters – ethnic Vietnamese ones – by promising citizenship for those who are eligible.
“They are considering this kind of support [from Cambodian-born Vietnamese].”
8 comments:
totally agree. We need to assimilate them into Khmer society and they need to abide by our law and culture and bring new ideas. I'm all for it.
Yes, the ones who are already in Cambodia must be assimilated in Khmer society, learn the Khmer language, culture and adopt Khmer ways of life. They must abide Cambodian law and culture.
After this, we need to shut the border to illegal immigration - meaning anyone coming to Cambodia illegally - without proper papers - must be deported or brought into a detention centre like other Western countries like Australia or Thailand and Vietnam which detained Khmer refugees for years in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. This is not racism, but about controlling illegal immigration. Vietnam, Thailand and even Australia can detain illegal immigrants, so why can't Cambodia do it too?
I agree with the CNRP. Controlled immigration is better than Uncontrolled immigrant. It is easy to assimiliate these Vietnamese Cambodian because they hate living with VC so they escaped to Cambodia. They live, bathe, and drink their own feces, you have to imagine how much they would rather live like that than under VC shit.
All the Vietnameses in Cambodia are controlled by Vietnam Com
munist Party . Mr Sam cannot court them easily . They will
vote for CPP because they don't want Khmer citizenship more
than the whole Khmer Land .
I also agree with assimilation and it's easy to control illegal migration of these YUONS with strict rules of laws like Siamese had done to our sisters Khmer surin and Yuon also had done to our sisters Khmer krom as well,therefore,we can do the same as the sample above :) Learn from our enemy and use their tactics on their (Yuon) people whose wants to live on our land.
-1) strict rule of law,no yuon's school nor association on khmer's soil.
-2) khmer's language is #1 in the kingdom,respect traditional,Khmer custom.
-3) yuons must pay taxes and register as Khmer after became citizenship of Cambodian.
-4) Yuon children must learn Khmer in Khmer school,because official's language is Khmer.
-5) it's sound racist,but yuon and Siam had done just that for our Khmers brothers & sisters on their stolen territory [Kampuchea Krom & Khmer surin] This my way of control illegal migration of yuon by impose the rule of law of our land,if they don't like it packs and move back to their country wherever they come from,after three or four decades there will be no more yuon but Khmer-assimilates with yuon or we just call them Khmers.
Conclusion;) assimilation is the only way to eliminates RACISM between yuon& Khmer in Srok Khmer after couple decades or so...And closed the border yuon- Khmer,cut ties with Hanoi politically, revoke all land concession contracts by ah Kwaq that gave yuon 99 years.This my solution to control migration of yuon.
We should give citizenships to Vietnamese if they are supposed to get it and we should limit the flow of Vietnamese into Cambodia.
CNRP new policies propose are more sound than CPP catch up policy. I don't believe some peoples on this board said that all Youn living in Cambodia are serving Hanoi's annexation of Cambodia plans. Some are indeed Youn's agents. Many of these Vietnamese illegal or legal immigrants are just looking for a better life for their families. Their country are very crowded and stiff competetions for jobs or natural resources. Cambodia just give them a better chance for survival. The populations and our country territories ratios are much less than theirs.
What CNRP have to do is to be more compassionate toward others human being. We must also enforce our country laws. We must respected those living in Cambodia who followed the laws and provided contributions to the country. We must treated them what we Khmer wanted to be treated. The Viets must learned our history and languages as other Khmer kids even if they don't like. We also at the same time must not deprive them of knowing or learning their history.
We also must give those who are illegals a chances to prove themselves that they loved and respected Cambodia laws so they can obtain our citizenship. Then we must strictly controls our borders with our own Khmer troops not traitors who can be bought.
CNRP must replaced ALL those who are in charge of immigrations ministry. All Cambodian military commanders at Youn/Cambodia borders must be fired. Replace them with younger educated Cambodian officers. We MUST have our troops welled equips. Our border guards troops and police MUST carry arms. Regular patrols in remote areas MUST be set up with competence RCAF commanders. Every time I saw the news or look at Youtube I NEVER see Cambodian border guards and police not even armed with a sticks while Youn are carried AK-47. Why are we so low ? You can see if a country under occupations of foreign troops when you see your own carried no arms or less equip than it's master. We only had a few border guards at Youn borders and they look scared and intimidated by Youn troops. Don't take my words just observed yourself.
My wife is a Vietnamese woman, over the years we have been together, she grow to love khmer more and understand more about khmer and the reasons why we want to remove hun sen. She also support the opposition.
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