A US citizen deported Thursday on charges of involvement with armed forces has admitted to being a member of the Kampuchea Krom National Liberation Front.
Hoa Khai Danh, who was deported Thursday with colleague John Bodwell, disclosed his membership in an interview broadcast Friday on Radio Free Asia. “In Cambodia, the authorities asked me about involvement with the front, but I denied it,” he said. “I am a member of the Kampuchea Krom National Liberation Front.”
Authorities have disbanded two Front camps in Cambodian territory in recent months. The group, based in the US state of Massachusetts, aims to liberate a part of southern Vietnam, known to many as Kampuchea Krom, from the Vietnamese government.
Hoa Khai Danh said that the leader of the Front is now Seng Reach, who replaced Thach San, a former Funcinpec parliament member. He disclosed that the Front’s strategy to demand land from the Vietnamese government is to establish a camp along the Cambodian-Thai border.
“Our first step is to form a camp in order to gather people and seek aid. Our second step, once we have gathered a lot of people with support from the international communities, is to demand the territory back,” he said.
Hoa Khai Danh, who is of Vietnamese descent, said supporters will be equipped with weapons as part of the second step. He insisted that the Front will continue to establish camps, but outside of Cambodian territory. “We can’t abandon our plan. I will find a way [to form additional camps].”
Hoa Khai Danh appealed to the Cambodian government to release four Front members currently imprisoned in Banteay Meanchey province. “They formed a camp in order to seek support from the international community and aid,” he said. “They couldn’t live in Kampuchea Krom in miserable conditions anymore.”
