Cambodia and Buddhism: From Devastation to Growth
Landscape of Phnom Penh. “View of the Royal Palace and Skyscrapers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia” by “Piseth Mao” licensed under Pexels
“In 1979, we had ashes and empty hands. Now, we have everything,” says Mr. Sovannarom Dim, former chief spokesman for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. At the end of the Cambodian genocide in 1979, 90% of the schools had been destroyed. After only 40 years, the nation aspires to become an upper-middle-income country within seven years. By 2050, it aims to join countries such as Canada and France and reach a high-income status. The World Bank expects a 5.8% growth in 2024. Cambodia has made incredible progress. Foreign aid has undeniably played a key role in its reconstruction, but deeper identity factors like Buddhism are what allowed people to reunite progressively towards a better future.
Fifty years ago, Cambodia went through one of the deadliest genocides in human history, seeing one-quarter of its population killed from 1975 to 1979 by Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime. It is often debated whether the term “genocide” applies in this case, as the killings were not solely based on ethnicity or religion, but also on social factors such as education. When considering other genocides throughout history, such as the Rwandan or Armenian cases, one can see that specific ethnic groups, the Tutsis and the Armenians respectively, were targeted. However, while Buddhists and religious minorities were targeted by the regime, the Khmer Rouge persecuted all individuals linked with the past government or foreign countries, as well as intellectuals. Hence, Khmer Rouge officials persecuted their own ethnic group and killed their people.
Given this key context, the possibility for reconstruction seemed unpromising: how can the intimacy of the killings between brothers and sisters of the same ethnic group allow them to imagine a common future? Cambodians demonstrated that this was possible. In September 2022, the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal – charged with bringing some degree of justice for the atrocities committed by Pol Pot’s regime – ended after 16 years of trial, convicting three officials. I had the honour of interviewing Mr. Sovannarom Dim, former chief spokesman for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, commonly known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
Mr. Sovannarom Dim, at the ECCC with the Indian delegation in 2016. “Indian delegation visit ECCC” by “Khmer Rouge Tribunal (ECCC)” licensed under CC BY 2.0
Foreign actors such as the UN played a key role in helping the country to recover from Pol Pot’s rule, notably by governing the country through the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). However, the mental wound caused by the genocide has been, in part, healed by other deeper identity factors, such as Buddhism.
“Survivors used Buddhism to regain a serene path, forget the past, and find unity again. If we continue to think about the past, we cannot move forward,” says Mr. Dim. Buddhism played an essential role in attempting to heal this psychological wound outside legal systems. Through principles such as reincarnation and karma, this religion allowed individuals to attempt to move on from the past and reassemble towards a common future. Karma provided some explanations for the atrocities committed in the name of the regime. Indeed, these were perceived as the consequences of bad actions in the Khmer Rouges' past lives. Furthermore, reincarnation became salient due to the vast number of deaths caused by the regime. This concept was linked to the one of karma, as good deeds to attain good karma are perceived to accelerate the process of rebirth. These two values provided a degree of psychological support to the Cambodian population during and after the genocide, encouraging them to move onwards when everything had crumbled. Buddhism did of course not erase the atrocities of the past, but replaced the void left by the genocide by offering values people could turn to.
Since the end of the genocide in 1979, Buddhism has been key in building resilience through forgiving principles and practical involvement in political life and infrastructure rebuilding. The first forms of social institutions to naturally emerge in the post-genocide period were pagodas: Buddhist temples, after the Khmer Rouges had destroyed half of the country’s temples and killed over 25,000 monks. The reconstruction of monasteries was the predominant request from rural communities. The new People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK), installed by Vietnam, supervised the reconstruction of temples and the re-ordination of monks. The restoration of the sangha, the Buddhist monastic order, became even more important after the end of the Vietnamese occupation in 1989 and the 1991 Paris Accords, which made Cambodia abandon communist principles. In 1993, monks were given the right to vote for the first time in the country’s history under the newly formed coalition government, notably co-led by Hun Sen, the current prime minister of the country. By the mid-1990s, the number of monks exceeded 50,000. Pagoda committees extended their reach beyond religious and social services by building roads, hospitals and schools.
The prospects for Cambodia are quite optimistic. From 1998 to 2019, its economy was one of the fastest growing in the world, with an annual rate of 7.7%. School enrollment has increased from 17% to 97% between 1997 and 2014. After having witnessed the genocide and participated in the prosecution of Khmer officials, Mr. Sovannarom Dim is hopeful for the future of his country. “Now, we have everything, we can only do better,” he says. “The dead family will not come back to life, and Cambodians have forgiven.” Mr. Dim’s strong words showcase the admirable resilience of the population in front of the challenge of building a peaceful future. Cambodia has managed to gain unity among its devastated population. However, as Mr. Dim notes, it is crucial not to forget the work of past generations towards reconciliation: “The opportunities that we have now were not created from nothing but are the result of our leaders’ work who dedicated their lives to the people, we must recognize this.” With a functioning education system, a growing economy and electoral institutions, future generations now have the tools to continue the work initiated by the current generation and reach the goal of becoming an upper-middle-income country by 2030.
The Cambodian example bears a strong message of hope for post-conflict reconstruction. It also demonstrates the importance of transnational and cross-border identities, such as religion, in uniting people. The moral values and teachings encompassed by Buddhism allowed a deeply wounded population to be able to conceive a peaceful future and escape the chaos, through forgiveness and the rebuilding of institutions. This historical event reiterates the deep connection between beliefs and the shaping of moral values in a society, too quickly ignored today, especially in Western societies. Forgive but never forget; this is the message which emerges from the Khmer people and highlighted by Mr. Sovannarom Dim.