Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation at the Third Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on the Indigenous Issues, May 10-21, 2004 in New York City Item 4e: Culture Date: May 12-13, 2004 Speaker: Rong Be Mr. Chairman, and distinguished Members of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, My name is Rong Be. On behalf of the Khmer Krom Federation, I would like to thank the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for giving the people of Khmer Krom an opportunity to present our cultural issues in Kampuchea Krom. The culture of Khmer Krom was once gloried in Southeast Asia. Today is almost unheard of by the world community. Each culture has a value. Collectively, they enrich the knowledge of mankind. Therefore, culture must be respected and preserved. Every person has the right to develop one’s own culture. As the article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil Political Rights stated, each person has the right to practice one’s ethnic, religion or language. Historically, the Vietnamese encroachment and occupation of our homeland has limited the ability for Khmer Krom to preserve and promote their cultural heritage. Therefore our culture in Vietnam has declined severely. Additionally, inter-marriage has not been a pure social contract, but being exploited as a scheme to achieve cultural assimilation as well as territorial annihilation against the indigenous Khmer Krom people. Their last names like Thach, Son, Kim, and Kien, which are the most common among the Khmer Krom have been the results of the Vietnaminization in mid 1800. Presently under totalitarian regime of Vietnam, the government has attempted to reinvent new culture for Khmer Krom. They have been forced to adopt the Vietnamese culture. They have been restricted from wearing their own traditional clothes. The government has strictly controlled and told the Khmer Krom how they should practice their Buddhist religion. Cultural police forces have been imbedded as Buddhist leaders in the Khmer Krom Buddhist temples to enforce the government assimilation policies. Traditionally, Buddhism has deeply rooted in the Khmer Krom culture. Our ancestors have practice Buddhist religion for thousands of years. Hinayan Buddhism has shaped the Khmer Krom way of life, guiding the standards of traditional values for men, women and children. Religious institutions are responsible for the education and personality formation of our children. Therefore, approximately 95% of the Khmer Krom are Buddhists. There are about 580 Buddhist temples and more than 10,000 monks throughout Kampuchea Krom. However, the tranquility of our religious belief has not been left alone. Many of our temples were destroyed during the wars. The Vietnamese government has used Khmer Krom temples as prisons. Many temples in our homeland have been encroached and occupied by those who have power. Khmer Krom Buddhist leaders have been murdered or executed for elevated such issues to the public awareness. On behalf of millions of the Khmer Krom people, I would like to present the issues that Khmer Krom is facing in cultural practices in Vietnam. I also would like to recommend for the solutions to help ease such problems as the following: Problems: • Khmer Krom has no right to freely practice their culture and religious belief • Khmer Buddhist Monks were forced to disrobe and join the Vietnamese army. • Only Vietnamese language is used in official business in Khmer Krom homeland • Government published books and documents in Khmer language has no cultural and educational values, but purely propaganda • Indigenous Khmer Krom was forced to adopt Vietnamese culture. • Indigenous traditional clothing was not permitted to wear. • Khmer Krom’ s historical museums are not allowed to be built. • The reconstructions of damaged historical buildings are not permitted. • Khmer Krom historical sites were used as tourist attractions only for government gains • The Khmer Krom traditional boat racing festivals are forced to occur more than once a year, when originally Khmer Krom only had it once a year. The reason for these forced festivals is to attract more tourists to provide more profit for the Vietnamese government. Solutions: • The Vietnamese government must allow the Khmer Krom to freely practice their cultural traditions. • The Vietnamese government must allow and promote a free contact between the Khmer Krom monks and all Buddhists round the world. • The Vietnamese government must allow the Khmer language to be taught in public school and use as an official language for the legal documents in the Khmer Krom communities. • The Vietnamese government must stop forcing Khmer Krom monks to give up their avocation and allow Khmer Krom fully practice their own religion • The Vietnamese government must spend the monetary gain from the tourism in the Khmer Krom region to preserve of the Khmer Krom culture. • The Vietnamese government must distribute foreign aid to help preserve Khmer Krom culture. Mr. Chairman, it is time for the United Nations to closely examine the situation of the indigenous peoples of Vietnam. The Khmer Krom people continue to suffer as I speak here today. On their behalf, I would like to appeal to the United Nations to take appropriate actions to help Khmer Krom to fully practice their own cultural ideals as have been identified above. On their behalf, once again, I appreciate your valuable time and attention on this momentous occasion to allow Khmer Krom’s voice to be heard. Thank you very much Rong Be
