Cambodia, which has fewer people but larger land used to be peaceful and nonaligned. But the genocide occurred by surprise, “The dead are crying out for justice. Their voices must be heard. It is the responsibility of the survivors to speak out for those who are unable to speak, in order that the genocide and holocaust will never happen again in this world” (Pran 10). The terror shrouded the country and silently influences people’s life. Genocide occurred in Cambodia in South East Asia between 1975-1979. Pol Pot’s desire to purify Cambodia society of all western influence and Pol Pot’s rise to power following the US withdrawal from Vietnam which destabilized the region led to the genocide in Cambodia.
CAUSES
Social cause. The Cambodian Genocide, which caused by the desire of Pol Pot, has killed almost 2 million people. Cambodia, which has the history of nearly 100 years of colonialist rule, and Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge was an admirer of “Mao” (Chinese) communism, want to change it. “Pol Pot envisioned the creation of a “new” Cambodia based on the Maoist-Communist model”. Pol Pot …show more content…
During the Cambodian Genocide, there are so many people died because of the persecutions. “In a 1984 study of children and adolescent refugees arriving to the United States from Cambodia, psychiatrists David Kinzie and William Sack found that 46% had been separated from their parents for at least two years, 60% had been beaten or witnessed someone in their family being beaten, 63% had a parent killed (many of whom were forced to watch), 83% were malnourished, and 38% narrowly escaped being murdered.” Also, because of the genocide, there are a lot of Cambodian people escape to the country near Cambodia, but “With no knowledge of American culture or the English language, adjustment to their new life was tough. They were now minorities facing discrimination and poverty”. The actions of the Khmer Rouge still influence the Cambodian people until