Khmer Krom
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
( Vietnam 1,260,640 (2009) Cambodia) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| (Mekong River Delta) | |
| Languages | |
| Khmer, Vietnamese | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism, Roman Catholic |
The Khmer Krom (Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រោម, Vietnamese: Khơ Me Crộm) are indigenous Khmer people living in the South-western part of Vietnam, where they represent an ethnic minority. Vietnam does not recognize the minority status and according to the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) "the Khmer Krom face serious restrictions of freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement".
In the Khmer language, Krom means "lower" or "below", as it refers to an area of 89,000 km2 (34,363 sq mi) around modern day Saigon and the Mekong Delta, which used to be the south-easternmost territory of the Khmer Empire until its incorporation into Vietnam under the Nguyễn lords in the early 18th century. This marks the final stage of the Vietnamese "March to the South" (nam tiến).
The Vietnamese term is Khơ-me Crộm or Khơ-me dưới, which literally means "Khmers from below".
According to Vietnamese government figures (1999 census), there are 1,055,174 Khmer Krom in Vietnam. Other estimates vary considerably, with up to 7 million reported to Taylor (2014) in his The Khmer lands of Vietnam.
The Khmer Krom identify ethnically with the Khmer people who constitute a distinct people at least since the late eighth century and the foundation of the Khmer Empire by Jayavarman II in 802 C.E. They retain deep linguistic, religious, customary and cultural links to Cambodia proper. The Mekong Delta region constituted for more than 800 years an integral part of the empire and the subsequent kingdom. The region's economic center was the city Prey Nokor, now Ho Chi Minh City.
In the 17th century a weakened Khmer state left the Mekong Delta poorly administered after repeated warfare with Siam. Concurrently Vietnamese refugees fleeing the Trịnh–Nguyễn War in Vietnam migrated into the area. In 1623 Cambodian king Chey Chettha II (1618–1628) officially sanctioned the Vietnamese immigrants to operate a custom house at Prey Nokor, then a small fishing village. The settlement steadily grew soon becoming a major regional port, attracting even more settlers.
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