Kyle Larsen and Dr. Chad Emmett, Geography

Vietnamese migration to Cambodia is unique because, unlike most immigrants who seek sanctuary in a nation more economically and socially stable countries, the Vietnamese in Cambodia face many worse conditions than in Vietnam. In many ways, Cambodia is much less-developed than Vietnam in terms of GDP, literacy, poverty rates, and more. The traditional rivalry between Cambodia and Vietnam exacerbates the situation, which results in violence and social ostracism to the immigrants. According to the 2005 CIA Factbook, the Vietnamese make up five percent of the Cambodian national population of more than 13 million. Virtually all of them have migrated since 1979 (though some did live there prior to Khmer Rouge control and returned). It was my goal to understand some of the push and pull factors of the mass migration and why they continue to stay amid their unique challenges.

My research consisted of meeting Vietnamese migrants in Phnom Penh, Cambodia to conduct a 21-question survey. I focused on the biggest Vietnamese communities, taking a sample from each. Most of the questions were open-ended and addressed issues of employment, education, and other opportunities in Cambodia, as well as their prior experience in Vietnam, integration into Cambodian society, and future plans. Forty-six anonymous surveys were completed.

The obstacles I met in the research process greatly affected the results I had hoped to find. The biggest obstacle, in my opinion, was finding Vietnamese people who were home and willing to complete the survey. Many assumed the survey was politically or religiously affiliated, and refused to participate. Some of those who talked to me indicated that many Vietnamese in Cambodia are concerned about communist informers, and often refuse to talk to strangers. Many migrants create false identities for themselves in Cambodia. Some people even try to hide their Vietnamese ethnicity to facilitate their complete integration to Cambodian society.

The difficulty of finding enough people to survey led to the lack of a true random audience and a change in my methodology. After 10 days of attempting to survey every fifth Vietnamese house, I began to survey any Vietnamese refugee willing to participate, which included random meetings in Vietnamese populated areas of the city and referrals from others. Because I was unable to sample a large random audience, I have qualitatively analyzed my findings.

There are a variety of Vietnamese migrants living in Cambodia with different backgrounds and employment. Though the Cambodian government does not restrict or even track movement of illegal Vietnamese nationals in their borders, the Vietnamese are frequently harassed by their Cambodian neighbors. In my research, the majority of the surveys reflected first-hand experience with discrimination, sometimes in the form of hate-crimes, including theft, assault, and a pandemic of arsons which successfully destroyed several entire Vietnamese communities (including one while I was there). After the fires, they are usually kicked off of the land and pushed outside the city where few jobs and little infrastructure exist. Many victims interpret this as ethnic expulsion.

Most of these people I talked to identify themselves as economic refugees. Many of them indicated that they came during the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia from 1979-1989 when workers were brought up to rebuild much of the country’s infrastructure. During this decade, work was abundant for the Vietnamese, which was the major pull factor across the border for this group. Even though many consider themselves economic refugees, they usually fall in the lowest economic class in Cambodia, being the poorest of the poor.

Those who are successful (defined as making enough money to “live through the day”) desire to stay in Cambodia as long as they are allowed to, mainly because they have economic freedoms that are unavailable in Vietnam. Frequently, they (usually the women) are involved in buying and selling goods as they wish for extra profit with virtually no government restriction or tax.

Unemployment for these Vietnamese has recently become common (particularly in the bricklaying and construction occupations) because of a Cambodian population increase. Of the economic migrants, the majority indicated that they were in Cambodia temporarily, with no desire to stay in Cambodia permanently. A number of economic migrants expressed that they long to return to Vietnam, but lack the resources to do so. This leaves them in a downward spiral making it extremely difficult to reach out of the depths of poverty. Even if they attained the resources available to return to Vietnam, many do not have the family support to return, and also lack land, housing, and employment (among other factors) to facilitate their move.

Another group of Vietnamese I found lived in Cambodia before the Khmer Rouge era. They represent the fortunate families who were able to escape to Vietnam during the Lon Nol and Khmer Rouge attempts to purge the country of Cambodians of Vietnamese descent. (Those who were unable to escape did not survive.) All of these individuals agreed that Cambodia felt more like home than Vietnam; they were familiar with the Cambodian way of life (though they still live quite separate in my opinion). Several people indicated that their families lived there for generations, yet they are still not accepted by Cambodian peers or government.

Seven people defined themselves as political refugees. They are much more difficult to locate for many reasons, such as their desire to blend in and the creation of false identities and histories. Among the Vietnamese in Cambodia, one can find a distinct uneasiness, almost paranoia, about communist spies among them. Of the seven political refugees I talked to, three were under United Nations political protection. They noted that the lack of freedom of speech and opportunity in a socialist nation was the major push factor in crossing the border. Cambodia is their “default” country, but many hope to eventually reach a more stable country from there.

Though there are other motives to come and stay in Cambodia, the surveys reported that most of the Vietnamese are there temporarily for economic benefits. However, my observations and “off-the-record” conversations lead me to believe that there are many more political refugees than my research shows. The information I received from political migrants was always dependent upon a personal relationship that I formed with them, which can take time and persistence. One refugee said that most of the Vietnamese in Cambodia are there for political reasons, which would help explain why so many people refused to talk with me. This may also explain why they stay amid so many challenges; they refuse to return to their socialist homeland due to political disagreements, no matter the consequences.