During the first week of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation youths drafted a letter to President Obama to highlight Khmer-Krom issues they hope the President could help raise on his visit.
The content of the letter sent to the President, on May 11th, 2016 raised concerns over the issues of:
- Religious persecution and imprisonment of Buddhist monks.
- Independence of the religious institution of Khmer-Krom from State control
- Preservation of indigenous language through validation and usage in schools
- Unequal access to higher education and opportunities for indigenous students and,
- Consistencies of government policies to help Khmer-Krom farmers facing hardship from impact of climate change.
The Khmer-Krom people live in poverty and fear, the Khmer-Krom youth team hopes that Mr. Obama’s visit to Vietnam can help change how the country treats Khmer-Krom people so that they could enjoy their basic freedoms enshrined in the International Laws that Vietnam has ratified.
