Influx of Vietnamese Civilians Distresses Cambodians

In the political struggle among Cambodians, whether in the government or among those opposed to it, no term is more emotional than “Vietnamization.”

Resistance leaders accuse the government, which was installed by Vietnamese troops in 1979, of being a puppet controlled by Hanoi through its representatives here and in the provinces.

The number of these representatives varies widely, depending on the source, and is impossible to verify.

Son Sann, premier of the rebel political coalition that also includes the Communist Khmer Rouge and forces loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk, told the New China News Agency last fall that 700,000 Vietnamese civilians had entered Cambodia since 1978.

Western diplomats and other outside authorities put the number at 200,000 to 300,000. Ngo Dien, the Vietnamese ambassador here, says the figure is 70,000 or more.

All sides agree that many of the Vietnamese are former residents of Cambodia, chased out in purges by the government of the late Lon Nol, in power from 1970 to 1975, or the brutal Khmer Rouge which overthrew it, ruling between 1975 and 1979. By all accounts, the Vietnamese here once numbered more than 500,000.

Rebel leaders of whatever faction say that the influx amounts to colonization, that Hanoi wants permanent control of the Phnom Penh government and is draining the country of its resources. Son Sann even charged that the Vietnamese are forcing Cambodians to wear Vietnamese-style clothing.

Easy to Spot

In the streets, the Vietnamese stand out. Many wear the traditional garb of the Vietnamese peasant--black pants, a black or white shirt and a conical straw hat. And they do the jobs here they used to do in Vietnam--they are mechanics, restaurant operators, construction workers, fishermen.

Westerners say the Vietnamese have returned to fishing villages along the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap, Cambodia’s large central lake.

And, according to a Western diplomat in Bangkok, more than half of the Vietnamese are new to Cambodia--young men, often from southern Vietnam.

“It doesn’t seem to be a Hanoi policy to populate the country, but they don’t turn them back at the border either,” the diplomat said. “The Cambodians profess to turn some back, but it doesn’t seem to be a wholehearted effort.”

Westerners living here suggest that some of the newcomers are seeking a better life than they can find in southern Vietnam. Rent and utilities, for instance, are free here. A small number may be trying to reach Thailand with hopes of eventually migrating to the West.

Although the numbers of Vietnamese here are important, more critical is the degree of Hanoi’s control over the Cambodian government, headed by Heng Samrin, and the Communist Party.

“At the district level, the Vietnamese play a large part in civic action programs, including development of informer networks to discourage collaboration with the guerrillas,” the diplomat in Bangkok said. “Defectors say they are important throughout the government, particularly in the political area.”

According to foreign sources here in Phnom Penh, Vietnamese openly working in government ministries have declined in the last two years as the Cambodians, few of whom have an administrative background, become more familiar with operations.

But no outsider can do more than speculate on Vietnamese influence in the Communist Party structure.

Long Ethnic Animosity

Over the years, the two societies have often been at odds. Even in recent times, Vietnamese here--along with the Chinese--were restricted in the types of jobs they could hold. If the situation is being changed, there is potential for trouble.

“With Vietnamese in the infrastructure, even if the migration is not organized, the Cambodian peasant is going to resent newcomers who can speak Vietnamese, who can talk with Vietnamese soldiers and perhaps be better able to bribe them,” the diplomat in Bangkok said.

Dien, the Vietnamese ambassador, using Marxist jargon, said, “We have a problem because of past contradictions between the two races.”

He said the French once used Vietnamese troops to suppress Cambodians, and the former Cambodian governments of Sihanouk, Lon Nol and Pol Pot played the two people against each other for political purposes.

“Now, in the mind of the common people, it’s not so easy to eradicate” the anti-Vietnamese feeling, he added.