Q: "Did anyone in your extended family die in Cambodia?"
A: "Oh, maybe 45 of my family died."
Q: "How did they die?"
A: "The soldiers of Pol Pot killed them. They did not give any rice for them. So they were very sad and very hungry. One day they died."
Q: "After 1975, when Pol Pot assumed power, what was it like?"
A: "After Pol Pot came to Phnom Penh, they carried me away to Kampuchenan province. So I worked very hard there — no food to eat. I was very sad every day.
Q: "Did you work in the fields?"
A: "Yes, in the field planting rice."
Q: "What did the soldiers do to the people? What did you see?"
A: "I see the soldiers of Pol Pot in the field where we plant rice. I see them by my eyes. Every day they call the people to go to the field. What time do they call us to work? 3 o'clock in the morning. We work until 12 noon. Come back, eat rice. Two to three spoons per man. After maybe 15 minutes to finish eating, they call again, 'Go, go, in all the provinces of our country, they are planting much rice, but not here.' If one doesn't go, sometimes they carry him away into the mountains and kill him by the gun. And sometimes by the stick and he will die.
"One day they tell me, 'You go to the field and plant rice.' I go but I work very slowly. I am weak and not strong. So they beat me. I lie down with blood in my mouth. They kick my teeth. (He showed me all the missing teeth in the side of his mouth) I prayed to them, 'My brothers, help me, please don't beat me.' So they got angry again and beat me. I could not get up. They carry me and tie my hands to the bamboo post. They didn't give me any rice to eat. For three days I did not eat any rice."
Q: "How, did you get here from your home? Did you walk?"
A: "Yes, I walked with my family."
Q: "How long did it take?"
A: "It took maybe 10 days."
Q: "What do you think about Thailand helping Cambodian refugees?"
A: "I thank Thailand because they help the people near their country."
Q: "Did the soldiers of the Pol Pot government know that you had worked for the American Embassy?"
A: "Pol Pot did not know."
Q: "If they knew you had worked for the American Embassy, what would they have done to you?"
A: "They did not know."
Q: "But what if they knew, what would they have done?"
A: "They would shoot you immediately."
Q: "Where do you want to go if you leave the refugee camp?"
A: "I want to study the Bible because I am a Christian. I hate it when I see the world people very bad."
"I thanked him for talking with me. As I said good-bye and walked away, sobered by what I had heard, I pondered what it would be like if I were thrust into the same circumstances. Forced to work long hours in the fields with little or no food, to see my friends and family dying of starvation, to see the weak and helpless shot and bludgeoned to death by agents of a harsh and dreadful government. To Mr. Naiem Sakun, it had been very real.
"While I had been interviewing Sakun and other individuals who had at one time been residents of Phnom Penh, Vinai had been concentrating on interviewing an entirely different class of Cambodian, the average rice farmer and laborer. The first person he spoke with was Mr. Pot, a 70year-old man who in his youth had been a soldier with King Sihanouk. Mr. Pot was from the province of Chiangkat and had lived through the entire experience of the change of Cambodia from a peaceful French colonial, rice-producing country to the Cambodia of today.
"Vinai began by asking about Mr. Pot's family.
Q: "How many children do you have?"
A: "Ten children, six of them have been killed."
Q: "How were they killed?"
A: "Some were beaten to death, others died of starvation because food was withheld from them. Each day they gave us one pint of uncooked rice for 20 persons. Not enough for anyone."
Q: "How many of your children survived?"
A: "All my sons are dead, but four daughters are alive."
Q: "Before Pol Pot came to power in Cambodia, what did you do?"
A: "Farmer, gardener, laborer, a weaver of baskets."
Q: "What about the food here at the Khao-I-Dang camp, is it enough?"
A: "They give enough rice, and they have salt fish. They give us oil and eggs, but no curry. Once. in a while we have a shortage of food."
Q: "How about your shelter. Is there enough space?"
A: "It is very convenient here, no problem, much better than in Cambodia. But there is a shortage of water, not enough for a bath, just enough for drinking and cooking."
Q: "When the Vietnamese came into Cambodia, did they allow you to cultivate the rice paddies?"
A: "Yes, they allowed us to cultivate, but when the time for harvest came, they did not allow harvesting. They either buried mines in the paddy or the soldiers killed those caught harvesting. No one has been harvesting.
Q: "Do you have Buddhist monks in Cambodia now?"
A: "No, and if there are, they are not real monks. The senior monks have all been killed, and whatever other monk refused to disrobe was beaten to death with bamboo sticks."
Q: "How long did it take you to escape into Thailand?"
A: "For those who live far away, it takes more than one month. Those who live nearer to the border take less time. Sometimes three weeks, sometimes one week. The people must walk. There is no time to stop. We were always hiding. If they had discovered us they would have killed us. Many died along the way."
Q: "How did they die?"
A: "They died because they were shot by Khmer Rouge soldiers, others died of starvation along the way. During the escape many were shot by Vietnamese soldiers. Some soldiers would rob all the goods from escaping refugees."
Q: "In this refugee camp, are there many people sick?"
A: "There are some, but there are doctors and the International Red Cross helps give treatment. So we don't have much of a problem now. We are very happy to be here."
"It was after dark before Vinai, Pravena and I met again on the dusty main road leading into Khao-I-Dang. Each of us had much to tell the other about what we had seen and heard during our brief visit to the camp.
"We had only talked to a few of the thousands of Cambodian refugees who made their homes here. We had only been slightly exposed to what it was like just a few kilometers away in the dying country of Kampuchea.
"I knew that I didn't really know what it was like to be a Cambodian refugee, to really know what it was like to see friends starve to death, to see my country destroyed and my family killed. As we started on our long journey back to Bangkok and Wat Pho, the West seemed very, very far away.
 |
"The Thai government now faces many difficulties. Thailand is ill prepared to support the estimated one million Cambodian refugees who will eventually cross the border. Poverty and drought, especially in Thailand's northeastern provinces, is already a major problem.
"What is' Thailand to do with these homeless people? Resettlement of the refugees within Thailand's borders is presently out of the question. The area where the refugees are now located is in the drier region of Thailand where the present population of Thai rice farmers already are plagued by a lack of water resources. Turning over vast sections of land, already owned and farmed by Thais, for the resettlement of Cambodians would pose far too many legal and economic problems.
"Presently the Thai government will be able to offer aid and protection to these homeless people as long as the United Nations and international relief
organizations continue to help support them by sending food, clothing, medical teams and supplies.
"However, it remains the understanding of the Thai government authorities that this can only be a temporary arrangement. If the refugees are not accepted by third countries, they must eventually return to Cambodia.
"But can they return?
"The Vietnamese, possessing the strongest and most formidable military machine in Southeast Asia have not been able to dislodge the Khmer Rouge from their mountain strongholds. The Vietnamese control the cities, the rice fields and the day. Pol Pot controls the mountains and the night.
|
"Neither side in this ethnic struggle among Communists has shown any inclination towards negotiating a peaceful settlement. The struggle will be a long and bitter one.
"There is no end to death and destruction in Cambodia, not in the foreseeable future as long as this world's governments stand. Cambodia, once known as a serene land filled with contented smiling people has become a land of desolation where death is a way of life.
"There is no more Cambodia. But there is hope for the younger generation if we concentrate on education for survival."