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Cambodia
Cambodian History
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Most Cambodians consider themselves to be
Khmers, descendants of the Angkor Empire
that extended over much of Southeast Asia
and reached its zenith between the 10th and
13th centuries.
Attacks by the Thai and Cham (from presentday Vietnam) weakened the empire, ushering
in a long period of decline. The king placed the
country under French protection in 1863 and it
became part of French Indochina in 1887.
Following Japanese occupation in World War
II, Cambodia gained full independence from
France in 1953.
In April 1975, after a five-year struggle,
Communist Khmer Rouge forces captured
Phnom Penh and evacuated all cities and
towns.
At least 1.5 million Cambodians died from
execution, forced hardships, or starvation
during the Khmer Rouge regime under POL
POT.
A December 1978 Vietnamese invasion drove
the Khmer Rouge into the countryside, began a
10-year Vietnamese occupation, and touched
off almost 13 years of civil war.
History Continued
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The 1991 Paris Peace Accords mandated democratic
elections and a ceasefire, which was not fully respected by
the Khmer Rouge.
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UN-sponsored elections in 1993 helped restore some
semblance of normalcy under a coalition government.
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Factional fighting in 1997 ended the first coalition
government, but a second round of national elections in
1998 led to the formation of another coalition government
and renewed political stability.
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The remaining elements of the Khmer Rouge surrendered
in early 1999.
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Some of the surviving Khmer Rouge leaders have been
tried or are awaiting trial for crimes against humanity by a
hybrid UN-Cambodian tribunal supported by international
assistance.
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Elections in July 2003 were relatively peaceful, but it took
one year of negotiations between contending political
parties before a coalition government was formed.
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In October 2004, King Norodom SIHANOUK abdicated the
throne and his son, Prince Norodom SIHAMONI, was
selected to succeed him.
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Local elections were held in Cambodia in April 2007, with
little of the pre-election violence that preceded prior
elections. National elections in July 2008 were relatively
peaceful.
Vietnam- Cambodian War
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Between 1969 and 1973, Republic of Vietnam
forces and U.S. forces bombed and briefly
invaded Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the
Viet Cong and Khmer Rouge.
Some two million Cambodians were made
refugees by the war and fled to Phnom Penh.
Estimates of the number of Cambodians killed
during the bombing campaigns vary widely, as
do views of the effects of the bombing.
The U.S. Seventh Air Force argued that the
bombing prevented the fall of Phnom Penh in
1973 by killing 16,000 of 25,500 Khmer Rouge
fighters besieging the city.
However, journalist William Shawcross and
Cambodia specialists Milton Osborne, David
P. Chandler and Ben Kiernan argued that the
bombing drove peasants to join the Khmer
Rouge.
Cambodia specialist Craig Etcheson argued
that the Khmer Rouge "would have won
anyway", even without U.S. intervention
driving recruitment despite the U.S. secretly
playing a major role behind the leading cause
of the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
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As the Vietnam War ended, a draft USAID report
observed that the country faced famine in 1975,
with 75% of its draft animals destroyed, and that
rice planting for the next harvest would have to be
done "by the hard labor of seriously malnourished
people".
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The report predicted that "Without large-scale
external food and equipment assistance there will
be widespread starvation between now and next
February ... Slave labor and starvation rations for
half the nation's people (probably heaviest among
those who supported the republic) will be a cruel
necessity for this year, and general deprivation
and suffering will stretch over the next two or
three years before Cambodia can get back to rice
self-sufficiency“
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The Khmer Rouge reached Phnom Penh and
took power in 1975. The regime, led by Pol Pot,
changed the official name of the country to
Democratic Kampuchea.
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They immediately evacuated the cities and sent
the entire population on forced marches to rural
work projects. They attempted to rebuild the
country's agriculture on the model of the 11th
century, discarded Western medicine, and
destroyed temples, libraries, and anything
considered Western. At least a million
Cambodians, out of a total population of 8 million,
died from executions, overwork, starvation and
disease.
Khmer Devastation
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Estimates as to how many people were killed
by the Khmer Rouge regime range from
approximately one to three million
This era gave rise to the term Killing Fields,
and the prison Tuol Sleng became notorious for
its history of mass killing.
Hundreds of thousands fled across the border
into neighboring Thailand.
The regime disproportionately targeted ethnic
minority groups. The Cham Muslims suffered
serious purges with as much as half of their
population exterminated.
In the late 1960s, an estimated 425,000 ethnic
Chinese lived in Cambodia, but by 1984, due to
Khmer Rouge genocide and to emigration, only
about 61,400 Chinese remained in the country.
Forced repatriation in 1970 and deaths during
the Khmer Rouge era reduced the Vietnamese
population in Cambodia from between 250,000
and 300,000 in 1969 to a reported 56,000 in
1984. Professionals, such as doctors, lawyers
and teachers, were also targeted. According to
Robert D. Kaplan, "eyeglasses were as deadly
as the yellow star" as they were seen as a sign
of intellectualism.
End of the Khmer Rouge
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Throughout the 1980s the Khmer Rouge, supplied by China,
Thailand, the United States and the United Kingdom
continued to control much of the country and attacked
territory not under their dominance. These attacks, led to
economic sanctions by the U.S. and its allies, made
reconstruction virtually impossible and left the country
deeply impoverished.
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Peace efforts began in Paris in 1989 under the State of
Cambodia, culminating two years later in October 1991 in a
comprehensive peace settlement. The UN was given a
mandate to enforce a ceasefire and deal with refugees and
disarmament known as the United Nations Transitional
Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).
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In 1993, Norodom Sihanouk was restored as King of
Cambodia, making Cambodia the world's only
postcommunist country which restored monarchy as the
system of government.
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The stability established following the conflict was shaken in
1997 by a coup d'état but has otherwise remained in place.
In recent years, reconstruction efforts have progressed and
led to some political stability in the form of a multiparty
democracy under a constitutional monarchy.
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In July 2010 Kang Kek Iew was the first Khmer Rouge
member found guilty of war crimes and crimes against
humanity in his role as the former commandant of the S21
extermination camp. He was sentenced to 35 years in
prison.
Cambodia Today
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Cambodia officially known as the
Kingdom of Cambodia
With a population of over 14.8 million,
Cambodia is the 69th most populous
country in the world.
The official religion is Theravada
Buddhism which is practiced by
around 95% of the Cambodian
population.
The country minority groups include
Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30
various hill tribes.
The capital and largest city is Phnom
Penh, the political, economical, and
cultural center of Cambodia.
The kingdom is a constitutional
monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni an
elected monarch chosen by the Royal
Throne Council as head of state.
The head of government is Hun Sen
who is currently the longest serving
leader in South East Asia and has
ruled Cambodia for over 25 years.
Issues- Land Mines
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A major problem that Cambodia faces is the issue of
landmines littered all over the country, especially in
the rural areas. This is the legacy of three decades of
war which had taken a severe toll on the
Cambodians; where some 40,000 amputees reside,
which is one of the highest rates in the world.
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC)
estimates that there may be as many as four to six
million mines and unexploded ordnances in
Cambodia
Casualty statistics by Cambodian Mine Victim
Information Service (CMVIS) shows that Cambodia
ranks as one of the highest casualty rates in the
world.
The number of casualties from 2000 to 2005 was
about 850 per year, declining to about 450 in 2006.
The figure dropped to about 350 in 2007 and about
270 in 2008. It is noted that one-third of the
casualties are children, and almost all of those are
boys, with studies showing that men and boys tend
to be more willing to play with or examine explosives
than women are.
United Nations: Land Mines
Stop Landmines
A Cambodian Story
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The National Level One Survey in Cambodia conducted in
2002 found that 20% (2776 out of 13908) of all villages in
Cambodia are still contaminated by minefields and/or cluster
bomb areas with reported adverse socio-economic impacts on
the community.
These adverse impacts included restrictions on access to
agricultural land, pasture land, forests, and water resources,
with 102,778, 105,707, 172,878 and 84,588 families being
affected respectively.
A 2004 Cambodia Socio Economic Survey (CSES) noted that
households headed by someone with one or more reported
disabilities have significantly less wealth than other
households. Furthermore, it has been estimated that
households headed by a person disabled by war or landmines
live in poverty at levels almost three times higher than if the
disability was due to other causes.
The Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA) was
established in late 2000. The CMAA regulates and
coordinates all mine action activities, and establishes policies
and procedures. Currently, there are four (main) demining
organizations working in Cambodia - The Cambodian Mine
Action Center (CMAC), the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces
(RCAF), The HALO Trust, and the Mines Advisory Group
(MAG).
CMAA estimates that the combined cost for demining
operations, including technical assistance and in kind
contributions for Cambodia are approximately $30 million per
year.
Experts also estimate that Cambodia will need another 10 to
20 years to clear the mines if the current level of funding is
maintained.
Adopt a Mine Field
Hope for the Future
Rebuilding from decades of civil
war, Cambodia has seen rapid
progress in the economical and
human resource areas.
 The country has had one of the
best economic records in Asia,
with economic growth growing
an average 6.0% for the last 10
years.
 Strong textiles, agriculture,
construction, garments, and
tourism sectors led to foreign
investments and international
trade.
 In 2005, oil and natural gas
deposits were found beneath
Cambodia's territorial waters,
and once commercial extraction
begins in 2011, the oil revenues
could profoundly affect
Cambodia's economy.
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