Cambodia

October 24, 2008

John Vink finds a deportee from America.

Choun Vann, 33 yrs, at the gym. Having fled Cambodia for the U.S. during or right after the Pol Pot regime, he is one of hundreds of American-Khmers who have been deported to their native country because they were convicted of a crime committed in the States and had not filed for American citizenship. He was convicted for sexual battery and was deported in December 2004, leaving behind a wife and three children.

In Cambodia he struggled to hold down a job working at a mechanical repair shop and a travel agency. He is currently unemployed. 1,400 more former convicts will be flown over to Cambodia in the near future. The vast majority has no more ties with Cambodia and barely speak the language.