| Khmer Krom |
|---|
| Total population |
|
527,174 (1999 est. ); |
| Regions with significant populations |
| Vietnam (Mekong River Delta) |
| Languages |
| Khmer, Vietnamese |
| Religions |
| Theravada Buddhism |
The Khmer Krom (Khmer: 
, Vietnamese: Khơ Me Crộm) are the indigenous ethnic Khmer minority living in southern Vietnam, especially in the Mekong River delta. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially The Mekong Delta (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta” is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially The Mekong is one of the world’s major Rivers It is the 11th-longest river in the world and 7th longest in Asia In Vietnamese, they are known as Khơ-me Crộm or Khơ-me dưới, which literally means “Khmer from below” (“below” referring to the lower areas of the Mekong Delta). Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) The Khmer people are the predominant Ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14 The Mekong Delta (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta” is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties
Contents |
Origins
The Khmer Krom are ethnic Khmer who inhabited the delta of the Mekong long before the arrival of the Vietnamese. The Khmer people are the predominant Ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14
According to Vietnamese government figures (1999 census), there are 527,174 Khmer Krom in Vietnam. However, this figure has been disputed as too low.
History
Beginning in the early 17th century, colonization of the area by Vietnamese settlers gradually isolated the Khmer of the Mekong Delta from their brethren in Cambodia proper and resulted in their becoming a minority in the delta. Archaeological evidence indicates that parts of the region now called Cambodia were inhabited from around 1000-2000 BCE by a Neolithic culture that may have migrated from South Eastern
Prey Nokor was the most important commercial seaport to the Khmers. The city’s name was changed by Vietnam to Sài Gòn and then Hồ Chí Minh City. The loss of the city prevented the Cambodians access to the South China Sea. The South China Sea is a Marginal sea south of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from Singapore to the Subsequently, the Khmers' access to the sea was now limited to the Gulf of Thailand. The Gulf of Thailand (or Gulf of Siam) is a gulf that borders but is not part of the South China Sea ( Pacific Ocean) It began as a small fishing village known as Prey Nokor. The area that the city now occupies was originally swampland, and was inhabited by Khmer people for centuries before the arrival of the Vietnamese.
In 1623, King Chey Chettha II of Cambodia (1618-1628) allowed Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh-Nguyễn War in Vietnam to settle in the area of Prey Nokor, and to set up a custom house at Prey Nokor. A Custom House or Customs House was a building housing the offices for the government officials who processed the paperwork for the import and export of goods into and out Increasing waves of Vietnamese settlers, which the Cambodian kingdom, weakened because of war with Thailand, could not impede, slowly Vietnamized the area. In time, Prey Nokor became known as Saigon.
In 1698, Nguyen Huu Canh, a Vietnamese noble, was sent by the Nguyen rulers of Huế to establish Vietnamese administrative structures in the area, thus detaching the area from Cambodia, which was not strong enough to intervene. Lễ Thành Hầu Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh or Nguyễn Hữu Kính, Hán tự:阮有鏡 (1650–1700? was a general of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Chu. ( 化 in Chữ Nôm) is the capital city of Thừa Thiên - Huế province, Vietnam. Since 1698, the area has been firmly under Vietnamese administration. The Vietnamese became the majority population in most places.
When independence was granted to French Indochina in 1954, the Mekong Delta was included in the state of South Vietnam, despite protests from Cambodia. First French interventions See also France-Vietnam relations France-Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit Year 1954 ( MCMLIV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1954 Gregorian calendar) The Mekong Delta (đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta” is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties "RVN" redirects here RVN is also the former callsign of a TV station in Wagga Wagga New South Wales Australia In the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge regime attacked Vietnam in an attempt to reconquer those areas of the delta still predominantly inhabited by Khmer Krom people, but this military adventure was a total disaster and precipitated the invasion of Cambodia by the Vietnamese army and subsequent downfall of the Khmer Rouge, with Vietnam occupying Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge (ខ្មែរក្រហម Kmae Krɑhɑɑm was the Communist ruling political party of Cambodia &mdashwhich it renamed The Khmer Rouge (ខ្មែរក្រហម Kmae Krɑhɑɑm was the Communist ruling political party of Cambodia &mdashwhich it renamed
Son Ngoc Thanh, the nationalist Cambodian, was a Khmer krom, born in Trà Vinh, Vietnam. Son Ngoc Thanh ( December 7, 1908 &ndash1977 was a Cambodian nationalist with a longtime history as a rebel and (for brief periods a government minister Tra Vinh is a town in Vietnam. It is the capital of the Tra Vinh Province. Cambodia got independence in Geneva, 1954, through the Vietnamese struggle in the First Indochina War. The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, the The Anti-French War, the Franco-Vietnamese War, the Franco-Vietminh War,
In 1757, the Vietnamese colonized the provinces of Psar Dèk (renamed Sa Đéc in Vietnamese) and Moat Chrouk (vietnamized to Châu Đốc). Sa Dec (Vietnamese Sa Đéc) is a town in Đồng Tháp Province in the Mekong Delta of southern Vietnam. Châu Đốc is a district and town in An Giang province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam.
Current Situation
Many independent NGOs report the human rights of the Khmer Krom are still being violated by the Vietnamese government. Khmer Krom are reportedly forced to adopt Vietnamese family names and speak the Vietnamese language. Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) {2} The education of the Khmer Krom is neglected and they face many hardships in everyday life, such as difficult access to Vietnamese health services (recent epidemics of blindness affecting children have been reported in the predominantly Khmer Krom areas of the Mekong delta), difficulty in practicing their religion (Khmer Krom are Theravada Buddhists, like Cambodian and Thai people, but unlike Vietnamese who are mostly Mahayana Buddhists or few Roman Catholics), difficulty in finding jobs outside of the fields, and societal racism. History Origin of the school The Theravāda school is ultimately derived from the Vibhajjavāda (or 'doctrine of analysis' grouping which was a continuation Mahayana ( Sanskrit: mahāyāna, Devanagari: महायान 'Great Vehicle' is one of the two main existing schools of Buddhism and a term for A number of noted individuals have been Buddhists. Historical Buddhist thinkers and founders of schools Individuals are grouped by nationality except in cases where the The Khmer Krom are among the poorest segments of the population in southern Vietnam.
Unlike other minority people groups of Vietnam, the Khmer Krom are largely unknown in the Western world, despite efforts by associations of exiled Khmer Krom such as the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation to publicize their issues with the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation. The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization ( UNPO) formed in 1991 is a democratic International organization. No Western government has raised the matter of the Khmer Krom’s human rights with the Vietnamese government.
The Khmer Krom culture could become better known through its tourist sites in the Mekong Delta. Khmer Buddhist temples located in places such as Long An, Tien Giang, Ving Long, Tra Vinh, Bac Lieu, and Soc Trang are now very popular as tourist destinations. [1]
References
External links
- Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation (KKF)
- Khmer Krom news and information network
- Khmer Krom news and information in Khmer language
- Khmer Krom: A Royal Solution for a Nationalist Vietnam reported by Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation
- Video clips of Rebecca Sommer's film "Eliminated without Bleeding" documenting human rights violation claims of the Khmer Krom in Vietnam
- March 2007- Article on religious oppression by Vietnam
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