[MUSIC]
[NAROEN CHHIN:] The #Right2Return Delegation, along with 1Love Cambodia, will be presenting
in front of the Cambodian task force on the repatriation agreement and we’ll be heading
into the Ministry of Interior and there’s a specific department of immigration within
the Ministry of Interior, and it’s going to be a two hour presentation.
We’re going to talk about the impacts of the laws, legislation, the community experience,
and also the experience of 1Love, the deportees here in Cambodia as well too.
[MIA-LIA BOUA KIERNAN:] This is just another step, it’s a big one.
It changes the game, so I think we’re really excited but super anxious.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] Yeah, I don’t know what to feel right now.
[MIA-LIA BOUA KIERNAN:] I think everybody has butterflies a little bit.
The significance of this meting is that we really do have an opportunity to have input
into what the revisions are in this new agreement and there’ll be work beyond this, especially
on the U.S. side, to make sure they agree to a revised MoU.
It’s definitely a critical moment.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] We’re ready to do this.
It’s been a long time coming.
[CHHAYA CHHOUM:] Feeling really anxious, really nervous, but definitely inspired the last
couple days to be here, to speak truth to our experience.
It’s definitely a historic event on so many levels.
The first time the Cambodian diaspora gets to sit down with folks from the ministry to
talk about the unfair and unjust deportations of Cambodian refugees who came to the United
States like myself as children, who call the United States home.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] So right now we’re about 25, we’re about 20 minutes, still waiting.
So people are just falling back, relaxing, debriefing, discussing, should be good.
We’ve got our amazing tuk tuk driver that’s been driving us around.
And our legal team from Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus that’s here, 1Love Cambodia,
Sophea last minute prep, texting.
How are you feeling Sophea?
[SOPHEA PHAN:] Nervous.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] How so?
[SOPHEA PHAN:] Just nervous.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] You think our prep meeting prepared you for this?
[SOPHEA PHAN:] Yeah, I think so.
I think we’re gonna knock ‘em dead and make them understand or help them to understand
more about what’s going on and influence them to help us.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] And also to empower them, right?
[SOPHEA PHAN:] Empower them as well, yeah, they need that from us.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] Can you talk a little bit about some of the repatriation stuff?
[KEVIN LO:] We want to make sure it emphasizes family unity, that it gives people the right
to visit, and the right to potentially return to the United States to see their families,
to see their children.
[ANOOP PRASAD:] And to stop future deportations.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] Thank you so much.
Again, this is Kevin and Anoop from Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus based out in San
Francisco, part of the delegation team.
[SINA SAM:] If we’re able to make movement on the repatriation agreement, this – I
wanna cry – it’s going to mean a lot to not only everyone who’s impacted by the
separation of families, but it’s going to set precedence to show that when our community
does come together, our allies, with the passion that we have to make a difference, it’s
possible to make change.
It would be the biggest win right now for us.
[STEVEN DY:] It’s a little nerve wracking knowing that it’s actually happening now,
but I think the fact that it’s happening is very reassuring to me.
It tells me that they’re ready to listen to us and we’re ready to talk.
[NAROEN CHHIN:] General Department of Identification as well, too.
1Love!
[SAHRA V. NGUYEN, PRODUCER, OFF-CAMERA:] How did it go, Chhya?
How are you feeling?
[CHHYA CHHOUM:] We’re kind of really excited.
We already won something before walking in there, so it’s like…oh my god, incredible.
[SOPHEA PHAN:] The meeting was very amazing.
I’m very excited.
I can’t say much, but we’re looking at a positive path.
[SAHRA V. NGUYEN, PRODUCER, OFF-CAMERA:] Mia, how do you feel?
[ANOOP PRASAD:] That was really amazing, a really productive meeting, really hopeful that we
can stop deportations now and get people out of detention, and we’re really excited.
[CHHYA CHHOUM:] But they actually asked them to halt, to stop the deportation of Cambodians
until we review this agreement.
So they’re stopping deportations for now of Cambodians.
[KALVIN HANG:] The diplomatic note was sent October 28, so they’re just waiting
for an answer to come back from the U.S. Embassy about suspensions.
[SAHRA V. NGUYEN, PRODUCER, OFF-CAMERA:] Wait, did you know that they had stopped that?
>> No, we just seen it today.
[SAHRA V. NGUYEN, PRODUCER, OFF-CAMERA:] What was your reaction when you found out?
[PETER SEE:] I wanted to jump.
[CHHYA CHHOUM:] We were screaming, actually.
We were all sitting still for a long time, and we were all like, “Wait, what??”
[PETER SEE:] This is long overdue.
[CHHYA CHHOUM:] Oh my god, this is super incredible.
Yeah, we wanted to hug each other and stuff, but we couldn’t.
>> What did I pray?!
[CHHYA CHHOUM:] You did pray!
[MIA-LIA BOUA KIERNAN:] It was such a huge opportunity to be able to sit with the task
force that has formed to revise the repatriation agreement and that we have an opportunity
to share with them and give them the humanity of the situation and also offer recommendations.
It was such a big deal.
We didn’t really have much time to prepare for this opportunity because it came with
2 days, 3 days notice, and we literally sat down the morning of and set up the
presentation basically.
[CHALLY DANG:] You know, 1Love being comprised of all Cambodian deportees, we’re all directly
impacted by what has happened, you know, so I think with us being the face for the community
here in Cambodia it gives us a voice and what we’re trying to do is trying to get everybody
or everyone within the Cambodian deportation community in Cambodia to come together to
unite so that our voice can be even louder and our strength can be even stronger.
[MIA-LIA BOUA KIERNAN:] We just basically stopped thinking about the United States as
the center of the earth, right?
So I think that for a lot of movements, all we think about is what’s happening in the
U.S. and how we can engage the U.S. government and what we have to do to make them change things.
And so I think that we’ve done over this last two weeks and in that meeting was basically
say we’re not going to do that anymore and there’s other ways to make change and that
we commit to a global movement that sees strategy beyond the United States.