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Millions of other Cambodians were forcibly relocated, deprived of food,
tortured, or sent into forced labor. Of about 425,000 Chinese Cambodians, only
about half survived the Khmer Rouge regime. While most of about 450,000
Vietnamese Cambodians had been expelled by the Lon Nol regime, more were driven
out by the Khmer Rouge; the rest were tracked down and murdered. Of about
250,000 Muslim Chams (an ethnic group inhabiting the rural areas of Cambodia) in
1975, 90,000 were massacred, and the survivors were dispersed. By 1979, 15
percent of the rural Khmer population and 25 percent of the urban Khmer
population had perished.
Mass grave which
contained bodies of 100 women
and children |
Memorial to those
murdered in the "killing field" at Cheoung Ek Museum |
The most horrific slaughter took place during the second half of 1978 in a purge
of the Eastern Zone on the Vietnam border, where resistance to the Khmer Rouge
was strong. At least 250,000 people were killed in the worst single massacre of
the Khmer Rouge period. Religion in Cambodia was also affected by the Khmer
Rouge regime. Buddhism was completely suppressed from 1975 to 1979; many monks
were defrocked and sent into forced labor, while others were killed. The Khmer
Rouge also attacked the neighboring countries of Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos in
an attempt to reclaim territories lost by Cambodia many centuries before.
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