The Tale of Khmerican - Force Back to Cambodia

Since 1977, the US Congress arranged for Cambodians, who were fleeing from the Khmer Rouge, to become permanent residents of the country through the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, eventually making them eligible for citizenship. Most were placed in ghettos in Lowell, Massachusetts, Lynn, Massachusetts and Long Beach, California with little support from the government

Most were born in refugee camps in Thailand after their parents escaped the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime and the wars of the 1970s. After moving to the United States as young children, they were deported decades later. Having grown up in the United States, they are fully ensconced in American culture. Upon arrival in Cambodia, they were given “naturalization certificates,” which grant them Cambodian citizenship.

After deportation, they were forbidden from ever returning to the United States.

Cambodian officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, have claimed they are motivated by human rights concerns because deported Cambodians were being unjustly separated from their families in the U.S.

“When they send back to Cambodia, the wives and children continue living in the United States,” Mr. Hun Sen said in April. “This is a sad separation.”

However, the government may also have more pragmatic goals in mind, seeking political gain or concessions from the U.S. in delaying repatriations. In particular, there are indications that the government may be seeking more U.S. support for deportees after they arrive in the country.

According to an updated program description from RISC, which details the U.S.funded NGO’s objectives in providing initial orientation and assistance with finding jobs and housing, acquiring legal documents and accessing medical care, among other support, the organisation is preparing for 16 more repatriated Cambodians by October 2017 and 94 on top of that by September 2019.

The project anticipated the target population to be at 582 individuals by the start of this proposed project in October 2017, and at 676 individuals by the end of this proposed project in September 2019.

Bill Herod, a long-time resident of Cambodia, established the Returnee Assistance Program, a non-governmental organisation, to assist deportees in transitioning to life in Cambodia. However, deportees receive no official support, and Cambodian government officials have expressed their consternation that the United States is dumping "American gang members" on the streets of Cambodia.

The fact is, do they have a choice to be in the U.S in the first place, and they are facing another life turning point for a mistake that made which caused them return to Cambodia, a land they never step on before, separated from their family.