Kicked Back to Cambodia: Cambodians from Australia and the US are being sent to a country their parents fled, but which they’ve never called home.
The USA and Australia have been deporting second generation Cambodians who have committed crimes back to Cambodia. Should they be sent to a country their parents fled, which they've never called home?
Khan Hin had lived in the USA since he was one year old. Now he's been deported to Cambodia - a country his parents fled as refugees - because of a theft he committed 10 years ago. "That was my past", he says. "I know it was wrong, but now I'm here, and I can't register it." Far from their loved ones, and with no support to find housing or employment, many struggle to adapt to life in a third-world country. "We all need to be there for our family", says Wicced, who after eleven years in Cambodia had to watch his father pass away over Skype. For the displaced children of war and genocide, deported to a country they have never seen, the punishment for their crimes lasts a lifetime.
SBS Dateline – Ref. 6719
The USA and Australia have been deporting second generation Cambodians who have committed crimes back to Cambodia. Should they be sent to a country their parents fled, which they've never called home?
Khan Hin had lived in the USA since he was one year old. Now he's been deported to Cambodia - a country his parents fled as refugees - because of a theft he committed 10 years ago. "That was my past", he says. "I know it was wrong, but now I'm here, and I can't register it." Far from their loved ones, and with no support to find housing or employment, many struggle to adapt to life in a third-world country. "We all need to be there for our family", says Wicced, who after eleven years in Cambodia had to watch his father pass away over Skype. For the displaced children of war and genocide, deported to a country they have never seen, the punishment for their crimes lasts a lifetime.
SBS Dateline – Ref. 6719
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