Cambodia - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 563

vast slave-labour camp. Meals consisted of little more than watery rice porridge twice a
day, meant to sustain men, women and children through a back-breaking day in the fields.
Disease stalked the work camps, malaria and dysentery striking down whole families.
Khmer Rouge rule was brought to an end by the Vietnamese, who liberated the almost-
empty city of Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979. It is estimated that at least 1.7 million
people perished at the hands of Pol Pot and his followers. The Documentation Center of Cam-
bodia (DC-Cam; www.dccam.org ) records the horrific events of the period.
MUST SEE
» The Killing Fields (1984) The poignant classic about American journalist Sydney Schanberg and his
Cambodian assistant both during and after the Khmer Rouge takeover.
» The Last Picture (2013) Acclaimed filmmaker Rithy Panh uses clay figurines to tell the story of his
family's persecution by the Khmer Rouge. In 2014 it became the first Cambodian film to be nomin-
ated for an Oscar, for Best Foreign Language Film (French).
A Sort of Peace
The Vietnamese installed a new government led by several former Khmer Rouge officers,
including current prime minister Hun Sen, who had defected to Vietnam in 1977. In the
dislocation that followed liberation, little rice was planted or harvested, leading to a
massive famine. The Khmer Rouge continued to wage civil war from remote mountain
bases near the Thai border throughout the 1980s. In September 1989 Vietnam, its eco-
nomy in tatters and eager to end its international isolation, announced the withdrawal of
all its forces from Cambodia.
In February 1991 all parties - including the Khmer Rouge - signed the Paris Peace Ac-
cords, according to which the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) would
rule the country for two years. Although UNTAC is still heralded as one of the UN's suc-
cess stories (elections with a 90% turnout were held in 1993), to many Cambodians who
had survived the 1970s it was unthinkable that the Khmer Rouge was allowed to play a
part in the process. The Khmer Rouge ultimately pulled out before polling began, but the
smokescreen of the elections allowed them to re-establish a guerrilla network throughout
Cambodia. UNTAC is also remembered for causing a significant increase in prostitution
and HIV/AIDS.