As an undergraduate, I was fortunate enough to interview Chiny Ky, a teacher in the School District of Philadelphia who came to the United States from Cambodia in 1980 as a refugee from Khmer Rouge persecution. The Khmer Rouge, a Communist group aligned with China, overthrew the Cambodian government in 1975 and instituted a totalitarian regime in the country.
Citizens were forced to work in the countryside under arduous conditions. In addition, persecution and torture were widespread. The regime particularly targeted a number of groups, including educated people, ethnic Chinese, city-dwellers, and those with ties with the West. As members of the educated urban elite with partial Chinese ancestry and strong connections to American organizations, Ky’s family was the perfect target for the Khmer Rouge.
Ky spoke with me about his life before the arrival of the Khmer Rouge, his experiences in the Cambodian countryside during the period of their rule, his escape to Thailand, and his arrival in the United States. I had uploaded the interview to the Swarthmore Migration Project, a blog I had created back then to explore migration issues. I found out recently that the audio files had been taken down from the server space that fellow student project War News Radio was kind enough to let us use, so I am digging through my old files to piece together the interview and upload portions of it to YouTube.
Part II: The first year under the Khmer Rouge
Part III: Health care under the Khmer Rouge
Photo: Inside the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. Creative Commons credit: Akshay Mahajan.
