1949 Khmer ethnic clashes in Indochina

The **1949 Khmer ethnic clashes** were a series of demonstration, subsequently violent riots and communal murders in the Union of Indochina. Mainly occurred in the heavily ethnic-divisive city of Phom Phenh, where Vietnamese made up nearly half of the population and since the Revolution, political power have been disproportionally distributed into the control of Vietnamese or Vietnamese-born population. Reports have stated at least 50 were killed and 300 wounded during the riots and communal violences and at least 5 deaths can be attributed to the security forces.

## Background

After the Daivietist Coup in Saigon, the Federal Government proclaimed a state of martial laws across all republics, the situation soon deteriorated when an anti-PNI faction proclaimed a unilateral motion of no confidence against the PNI-led federal government, which spiralled out into what is known as the Paramilitary War or the Autumn Political Crisis in Vietnam. Where partisan formations belonging to political parties fought for control of cities amidst trying to subdue the Daivietist threat.

Fear and hysterias were the mood in the cities on the news of the Daivietist plot, there was no certainty if the Federal Government have collapsed or not, as well as if the oppositional government formed in Hanoi is in cahoot with the Daivietists in preparation to fulfil the so-called "natural historical destiny of the Viets" or not, fear of pogroms widely spread over the cities of Kampuchea and Laos where the Vietnamese ethnic minority dominate social and political life. General confusion was also presents as the Republican leaders also fear a counter-revolutionary coup in their own area.

The political situation in Kampuchea was particularly divisive as the Revolution and the series of pustches that enabled the PNI and their allies to topple the Kingdom of Kampuchea was still fresh in memory with many militant Buddhist nationalist organisations opposing what is perceived as Vietnamese attack on Khmer culture by its strong secular laws.

## August Riot

Martial law in the city prohibited the monks from their usual almsasking routine, this led to some clashes with citizens and the police and some arrests were made as brawls occurred. Confrontation between police forces and the public increased in the next few days as the intensity of the fighting in the Paramilitary War also increased, led to an atmosphere of hysteria among the Government of a possible attack on the city by anti-PNI forces, this led to harsh police to arrest without warrants, beatings and blockades in the city. However, these only created the opposite effect as large crowds began gathering to oppose the police and in the next few days, a mass demonstration was scheduled by activists from anti-PNI parties to oppose the security measures that basically created an economic blockade of the city. However, hysteria is at its peak during this period and soon the Vietnamese community heard rumors of a Khmer nationalist insurrection that would expel or murder all Vietnamese.

The next day, two officers of the Public Security Ministry were kidnapped while on duty, this were suspected as retaliation for the arrest of the monks prior, the Vietnamese population is now incited into taking actions themselves and on the next day, armed militias accompanied police to raid a house belong to a member of the Free Khmer coalition parliamentarian, their supporters were alerted and were blocking the police. Brawl ensured with one of the militiamen discharged his weapons at the Free Khmer supporters, the situation on the street soon turned into chaos as more people starts to swarm the police and in the midst of chaos, some started firing at the police from the buildings and a shootout occured briefly disbanding the crowd so the police can retreat.

By night time, the crowd began coming out of their houses again, incited and led by Free Khmer leaders, they proposed a march on the People's Parliament and demand the resignation of the Government of Son Ngoc Thanh. However when the crowd started moving, the Free Khmer leaders started to lose control of the crowd and soon mobs led by nationalist activists descended on the Vietnamese quarters, burning and looting a number of houses. The overwhelmed police forces holed up in government building left the Vietnamese to fend for themselves, armed Vietnamese soon took to the streets as well by the morning the next day, August 22 as the forces of the Federal Government started the pacification of the Daivietist occupation of Saigon on the other side of the inter-republic border, rioters and armed militias are fighting battles on the street as newspapers and crowds started chanting slogans on both sides such as "Destroy the Reactionary Progomists!" to "Rise up to expel the Vietnamese imperialists!". By 8am, the National Guard Regiment "Si Votha" entered the city, a mainly Vietnamese-dominated regiment outraged the mob further but the Regiment quickly moved to suppress the violence and by the end of the day, hundreds of arrest were made and the Free Khmer claimed the Regiment killed at least 50 people and wounded critically another 300 during the suppression.

## Communal Violence Spread

Outrage from the violent episode in the capital soon spreads over the provinces and a series of communal murders occured the entire fall to winter of 1949 between Vietnamese villages along the Tonle Sap and Khmer mobs. The situation was untendable for the Republican Government as it can only rely on the Si Votha Regiment to maintain order in the city and with an anti-vietnamese nationalist mood, the disorganised and undisciplined troops of the National Army of Kampuchea was not reliable to dispach to the provinces. This required the government to perform even more unpopular acts such as calling for the Thai-Vietnamese dominated Mekong Battalions to protect the Tonle Sap towns and requested for forces from the border provinces of Vietnam to provide the same support in Eastern Cambodia, which the 307th Regiment and 1st Battalion (Cantho), Republican Guard provided. Opposition to the deployment of the PNI's own famous loyal force, the Republican Guard sparked some demonstrations in the border towns where the Khmer nationalists incited the population to stop the troops from moving into Cambodia. When the Battalion arrived at Dong Thap a mob of some hundreds khmer surrounded its barrack, when the mob attempted to enter the encampment ground, Republican Guard opened fire killing and wounded some tresspasser, the incident quieted the excitment but created great ammunition for enemies for the PNI in later time and greatly pitched the Khmer population in distrust of the government and vice-versa.