Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia left in limbo without citizenship

From Radio Free Asia

Ethnic Vietnamese who have lived in Cambodia for generations are deprived of citizenship, trapped in poverty, lack access to education, live under deplorable conditions, and are shut out from economic, social, and political life, a local minority-rights advocacy group says in a new report, seeking urgent government intervention.

A floating village in Kampong Chhnang province, March 18, 2014. Photo from Free Radio Asia.

About five percent or 750,000 of Cambodia’s 15 million people are ethnic Vietnamese, the largest ethnic minority in Cambodia, but most of them are stateless and, according to the report, are “consequently deprived of their most fundamental human rights.”

“The lack of identification papers is the root cause of all other difficulties faced by stateless Vietnamese in Cambodia and due to this lack of identity they face widespread discrimination and exploitation,” the Minority Rights Organization (MIRO) said in the report “Limbo on Earth: The Situation of Stateless Ethnic Vietnamese in Cambodia.”

“This has dire consequences on their access to healthcare, education, justice in court, social security, freedom of movement, transfer of assets, and housing,” it said, citing a case study in Cambodia’s central Kampong Chhnang province covering about 5,000 ethnic Vietnamese who were born in Cambodia.

It expressed the hope that the ethnic Vietnamese claim to citizenship and nationality “will not be drowned out by the expressions of racism in Cambodia,” lamenting that anti-Vietnamese sentiments are on the rise in the country.

It referred to several recent incidents of violent assaults on ethnic Vietnamese and their properties which it said “give cause for grave concern.”

Read the full story from Radio Free Asia.