Wayne E. Wright

On April 17, 1975, Pol Pot and his murderous Khmer Rouge regime captured
the Cambodian capital and took over the country. They emptied the cities, drove
the entire population into the countryside, and forced the people to perform hard
agricultural labor under slave-like conditions. All institutions, including the
schools, were abolished. For nearly four years, Cambodians were subjected to
starvation, disease, and execution. Former government workers, teachers,
professors, and other members of the educated elite were systematically
executed, with between one and three million people put to death during the
course of the Cambodian genocide. At the end of 1978, the Vietnamese invasion
brought an end to the Killing Fields of Cambodia, and hundreds of thousands of
Cambodians fled to the Thailand border. From the United Nations-supported
border camps, Cambodian refugees had the opportunity to relocate and settle in
other countries, such as the United States ( Chandler, 1993).

Between 1975 and 1977, approximately 6,000 Cambodian refugees resettled
in the United States ( Table 14.1. ). This first wave of refugees consisted mostly of
former government leaders and other members of the urban elite who were able
to escape just before the Khmer Rouge take over.

Between 1978 and 1987, over 134,000 Cambodians were allowed to resettle
in the United States (see Table 14.1 ). This second wave of refugees makes up
the majority of the Cambodians in the United States. In general, these refugees
had rural backgrounds and were less educated than those of the first wave
( Smith- Hefner, 1990). Most refugees from this group have had a difficult time
adjusting to life in the United States. Their rural backgrounds and lack of
education, combined with trauma from the Khmer Rouge years, have made it
difficult for the adult family members to learn English and find employment.

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