Country: Vietnam
Group: Khmer
Date Finalized: 4/12/2020
Team: Aracely Esquer (lead), Giselle Chavez Lopez, Sophia Agne
The Khmer, one of the largest minority groups of Vietnam, inhabit the Mekong delta region. Beginning in 1975 with the reunification of Vietnam, many Khmer were subjected to property loss. With the influx of other ethnic groups into traditional Khmer land, the Khmer were driven to a redirection of economic activities and new occupations (Minority Rights, n.d.). The 1975 government movement placed a ban on Khmer-language learning, use, and historical publications and enforced a Vietnamese-language only practice. This led to fewer employment opportunities and the reduction of sharing cultural knowledge (Human Rights Watch, 2015). The Khmer continue to be subjected to ethnically discriminatory land expropriation that force them out of traditionally owned land. There are also claims of infringement on religious freedoms where communist ideologies and strict government approval on religious practices are imposed (Minority Rights, n.d.). The property loss and land usage, language and cultural restrictions, and violation of religious freedoms have led the Khmer to be subjected to ethnocide by the Vietnamese government. The data quality would be a 3/3 as there were clear, credible reports of ethnocide.
Sources
- Minority Rights Group (n.d.). Khmer Krom. Retrieved from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/khmer/
- Human Rights Watch (2009). On the Margins: Rights Abuses of Ethnic Khmer in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/report/2009/01/21/margins/rights-abuses-ethnic-khmer-vietnams-mekong-delta