FULRO | |
---|---|
French: Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées Vietnamese: Mặt trận Thống nhất Đấu tranh của các Sắc tộc bị Áp bức English: United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races Participant in FULRO insurgency against Vietnam, Vietnam War, Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia |
|
Flag
|
|
Active | 1964–1992 |
Ideology | Cham, Degar and Khmer Nationalism, Anti-imperialism |
Leaders | FLC leader: Les Kosem, Po Dharma FLHP leader: Y Bham Enuol FLKK leader: Chau Dera |
Headquarters | Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia, Central Highlands (Vietnam) |
Originated as | BAJARAKA Front de Liberation des Hauts Plateaux (FLHP) Front de Liberation du Champa (FLC) Front de Liberation du Kampuchea Krom (FLKK) |
Allies |
People's Republic of China(1964-1992) France (after 1970-1975) |
Opponents |
Viet Cong South Vietnam (ARVN) North Vietnam (VPA) Socialist Republic of Vietnam United States (1964-1970) |
People's Republic of China(1964-1992)
Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–70) (Sihanouk)
Khmer Republic (Lon Nol)
Royal Government of National Union of Kampuchea (Sihanouk)
Kingdom of Cambodia (1975–76) (Sihanouk)
United States (after 1970-1975)
The United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO, French: Front Unifié de Lutte des Races Opprimées, Vietnamese: Mặt trận Thống nhất Đấu tranh của các Sắc tộc bị Áp bức) was an organization within Vietnam, whose objective was autonomy for the Degar (Montagnard) tribes. Initially a political nationalist movement, after 1969 it evolved into a fragmented guerrilla group which carried on an insurgency against, successively, the South Vietnam and Socialist Republic of Vietnam regimes. FULRO fought against both the Communist Viet Cong and anti-Communist South Vietnamese at the same time, being opposed to all forms of Vietnamese rule. Cambodia was the primary supporter of FULRO with some aid sent by China.
The movement effectively ceased to function in 1992, when the last group of 407 FULRO fighters and their families handed in their weapons to United Nations peacekeepers in Cambodia.
On May 1, 1958, a group of intellectuals headed by a French-educated Rhade civil servant, Y Bham Enuol, established an organization seeking greater autonomy for the minorities of the Vietnamese Central Highlands. The organization was given the name BAJARAKA, which stood for four main ethnic groups: the Bahnar people, the Jarai (Gia Rai people), the Rhade or E De people, and the K'Ho people.