Cambodia…
It is shocking how blind and ignorant I was to the history and atrocities that happened in Cambodia.
I could have wrote a book on all the things I was researching, but because most of you aren’t history geeks like myself I tried my best to keep this post short while still including all of the important details from the Cambodian genocide.
It is a sad and recent history that has shaped the country of Cambodia in so many ways. I can’t even imagine the people I will meet, the stories they will share, what part they played in history and where their lives and their families lives are going now. My goal in Cambodia is to love.
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge (followers of the Communist Party) established their own government in Cambodia, Communist Party of Kampuchea, following the Cambodian Civil War.
The Khmer Rouge wanted to create a system of agrarian socialism – which is basically a non-progressive, rural society with an emphasis on control of land rather than a means of production.
Primitive.
The leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot, was a man of many things, but hypocrite is the first term that comes to mind. Pol Pot wanted to create a utopian agrarian society, classless, with collectivized farms at its central.
It was “Year Zero” and “Brother Number One” (Pol Pot) began building his republic.
In order to create this classless peasant society, the Khmer Rouge singled out people who were not “fit” for an agrarian lifestyle. Teachers, doctors, journalists – anyone with an education or seen as a potential threat to the regime were brutally tortured and executed.
But let’s go back real quick. Pol Pot came from an affluent family and received a scholarship to study in Paris. Doesn’t that make him ‘educated‘, part of an ‘elite‘ class.
He is the very thing he wishes to abolish..
The idea was to transform Cambodia back to a non-westernized primitive nation virtually overnight. The Khmer Rouge set to work forcing people into rural work projects regardless of age, gender, class or status.
“To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss.”
There were no exceptions. This is what made the Khmer Rouge so terrifying. Everyone was purged out of the city and moved to rural areas to live in public communes – sick, young, elderly, pregnant, it didn’t matter.
Leaders of the Khmer Rouge had a saying,
“to stop the weeds you must also pull up their roots.”
Meaning, children and babies were not exempt from the brutality of the Khmer Rouge.
Hundreds of thousands didn’t survive the march to the rural camps.
If someone was ‘lucky’ to make it to the camps, they were forced into rigorous unpaid labor, with limited rations of food and rampant disease surrounding them.
Child soldiers were readily used by the Khmer Rouge because they were easily trained and followed orders without hesitation. It was not uncommon for a child soldier to be ordered to shoot their parents which they would do in an instant.
After the regime took over, ‘Angka’, or ‘Organization’, became their new mother and father.
Cambodia’s population was around 7 million before the genocide. During the Khmer Rouge regime, it was estimated 2-3 million people died.
There was not much international attention toward the horrible things happening in Cambodia. The US had just left the war in Vietnam and were reluctant to get involved. It wasn’t until after the regime was overthrown that people really started understanding what was happening.
The end of the Khmer Rouge came about when Vietnam invaded Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge fled to the outskirts of Thailand and used guerilla warfare to attack the Vietnamese. Western countries aided the Khmer Rouge. Even though the US did not agree with what the Khmer Rogue was doing, they also didn’t support Vietnam’s presence in Cambodia.
For over a decade the Khmer Rouge fought against the Vietnamese which led to the deaths of thousands more Cambodians and a large influx of refugees to Thailand. In 1989, Vietnam removed its troops from Cambodia due to sanctions and a lack of aid. In 1991, a peace agreement was made between the two parties and a temporary coalition government was established in Cambodia.
Pol Pot continued to lead the Khmer Rouge as an insurgency until 1997 when he was finally..
put under house arrest. (Are you kidding me??????)
The Khmer Rouge existed until 1999, but most members had at this point defected, been arrested or had died.
Pol Pot died in his sleep from heart failure before he could ever be tried for his crimes against humanity.
After the regime ended in Cambodia, the countries infrastructure had totally collapsed. For years after, the country was without engineers, doctors, teachers – all professionals had been executed during the regime. They were still not receiving international aid and had to rebuild from the ground up.
Cambodia Today..
There are nearly 40,000 amputees living in Cambodia due to landmines that the Khmer Rouge scattered everywhere to keep their victims from fleeing to Thailand.
Since the civil war, nearly 20,000 people have lost their lives due to landmines. It is estimated that it will take another 25 years before all of the mines can be removed.
Mass graves holding hundreds of skeletal remains were uncovered throughout Cambodia where mass executions were held.
Cambodia is rife with political disputes, the economy is growing at an extremely slow rate, the country is still laden in poverty which leaves Cambodia as a culture rich with corruption and denial of justice to the poor and oppressed.
If you’ve made it this far in my blog… thanks for sticking with me.
I received my degree in History and sadly never did much study on Asian histories. This is so interesting to me and I feel so sick that I never took the time to research this more.
I’m really inspired to live in Cambodia this fall. I know, ‘inspired’ might be a weird word choice, but I do feel inspired. I want to dig into the history of the country, talk to the people and learn their culture. I want to hear personal testimonies and real, unapologetic stories. I want to open my heart and mind and love these people. I think Cambodia could be a country that changes me forever.
Sorry I know this one was probably a tough one to get through, but this is truth..
this is real life..
real people..
real stories.
I’m looking forward to living there and sharing with you real testaments of disaster and how people have been brought from ashes to life.
While writing this I thought of some verses that talk about rising again and having faith in God’s love and strength.
He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. – Psalm 40:2
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. – 2 Timothy 1:7
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. – Isaiah 41:10
For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light. – Micah 7:8
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassion’s never fail.- Lamentations 3:22
That’s all I’ve got for this one, guys. Thanks for reading.
