Vietnamese Cambodians

Vietnamese Cambodians

Vietnamese boat dwellers in Siem Reap
Total population
(15,000 (est.) 0.1% of the Cambodian population (2013))
Regions with significant populations
Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, South-East Cambodia
Languages
Vietnamese and Khmer
Religion
Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism, Cao Dai, Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Overseas Vietnamese

Vietnamese Cambodians (Khmer: ខ្មែរវៀត, KhmerViet) refer to ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia. They mostly reside in southeastern parts Cambodia bordering Vietnam or on boathouses in the Tonlé Sap lake and Mekong rivers. The first Vietnamese came to settle modern-day Cambodia from the early 19th century during the era of the Nguyễn lords, and most of the Vietnamese came to Cambodia during the periods of French colonial administration and the People's Republic of Kampuchea administration. During the Khmer Republic and Khmer Rouge governments in the 1970s, the Vietnamese were targets of mass genocides; thousands of Vietnamese were killed and many more sought refuge in Vietnam. Ethnic relations between the Khmers and Vietnamese are poor, and the Vietnamese have been the main target of xenophobic attacks by political parties since the 1990s. Most of the Vietnamese are stateless residents of Cambodia, and as a result they face difficulties in getting access to education, employment and housing.

Vietnamese settlers began to settle in modern-day Cochinchina and Ho Chi Minh City from the 1620s onwards. To the Cambodians, these lands were known as Kampuchea Krom and traditionally under the control of the Khmer Empire. From the era of Chey Chettha II onwards, they came under the control of the Nguyễn lords. In 1813, Emperor Gia Long sent 10,000 Vietnamese troops into Phnom Penh and some members of the Cambodian royal family came under the control of the Vietnamese court. The Nguyen court imposed Vietnamese customs upon the Cambodian populace, and names of towns and provinces were changed to Vietnamese ones. Vietnamese settlers were encouraged to settle in Cambodia and official documents from the Vietnamese court recorded an average of 5,000 Vietnamese settlers coming into Cambodia in the 1830s. The policies imposed by the Nguyen court stirred resentment among the Cambodian populace and provoked occasional rebellions.