English translation from RFA report on 2 February 2007 Prey Nakor – Around 40 Khmer-Krom people from various districts in the province of Kleang (Renamed Soc Trang) are staging a protest in front of the South Vietnamese government headquarter in Prey Nakor (Renamed Saigon then Ho Chi Minh City) to demand resolution on illegal land confiscation by local Vietnamese authority. Two were arrested a day prior to leaving for Saigon. The farmers claimed the Vietnamese authority confiscated their 10 hectare farmland, paddock and roads and has turned it into sugar cane farm. After many previous protests, only 3 hectare has been returned. According to RFA, Vietnamese authorities have set up check points to deter Khmer-Krom people from traveling to the Saigon to protest. What usually takes two hours to travel, now takes two days to reach Saigon from Soc Trang through alternative route crossing other provinces. Venerable May Vinh Ho, a representative of the Khmer-Krom Buddhist monks in Kampuchea-Krom said the two arrested were accused of causing disturbances to society. “They have arrested and interrogated them, but now they have been released and reunited with family,” says Venerable Ho. Recently Khmer-Krom people all over Kampuchea-Krom have the courage to standup and demand their basic human right have met with arrests, humiliation and constant surveillance of their daily lives. Click here to listen to RFA Report (9 mins into program)
