On behalf of the Khmer-Krom Canadian community of Canada, the
Presidents of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation Youth Committee in
Ontario (Jeffery Kim), Quebec (Samnang Om), Alberta (Phekdey Son), wrote
a joint letter to His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston,
Governor General of Canada prior to his trip visiting Vietnam from
November 16 – 19, 2011.
Besides wishing His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston
having a successful trip to Vietnam, they introduced to the Excellency
about who Indigenous Khmer-Krom Peoples are and the human rights
violations that the Khmer-Krom people are facing:
- The government of Vietnam continues to fabricate fault history
about the Khmer-Krom people and their homeland. The local Khmer-Krom
people are being prohibited from learning about their true history and
identity.
- The original names of the Khmer-Krom people’s towns and villages
have been renamed to Vietnamese in order to erase the Khmer-Krom
history.
- Khmer-Krom people’s natural resources such as farmlands, waterways,
oil and gas, forests, etc. have been exploited by the State, without
any consultation or compensations from the local Khmer-Krom people who
have lived on their ancestral land for centuries.
- Khmer-Krom children and youth have been deprived of their future,
living under environment of institutional discrimination and inadequate
access to higher education and job opportunities.
- Khmer-Krom people have been stripped of their rights to assembly, expression, and media.
They urged the Excellency to:
- Call on Vietnam to live up to its obligations by respecting Khmer-Krom people’s rights and freedom.
- Call on Vietnam to follow the successes of multiculturalism model
in Canada whereby all citizens regardless of one’s background is equal
in status and in rights.
- Assist in promoting education for Khmer-Krom youths by providing
Canada’s scholarship to local Khmer-Krom students to study in Canada.
- Assist in promoting Khmer-Krom culture by having local Khmer-Krom artists to perform show in Canada.
- Visit to Khmer-Krom local towns and villages. Published by: khmerkrom.net
0 Comments:
Post a Comment