Abstract
The multiethnic society in the Mekong Delta, bordering southern Vietnam and Cambodia, has been subject to considerable sociopolitical and natural disasters over the decades. Known by the Vietnamese as the “Nine Dragon” River, the Mekong Delta’s rich agricultural and aquacultural landscape is vital to the local and regional livelihood and economy. It stems from the Tibetan Plateau to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and the South China Sea, making it one of the largest deltas in the world and home to ethnic groups including the Vietnamese, Chinese, Khmers, and Chams. These regional compositions have produced many disputes over control of the delta, from France’s conquest of Cochinchina to the American Invasion and the subsequent Cambodian-Vietnamese War. Beginning with mass migration following Vietnamese reunification under Communism, this paper reviews the trajectory of issues resulting in local migration in the delta. Namely, the mass exodus of civilians during the 1975 Vietnamese socialist transformation, the border contentions with the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s purging of the regional ethnic Vietnamese leading to Vietnam’s invasion of the Democratic Kampuchea in 1979. Along with the sociopolitical and military issues, the presentation will explore the delta’s current climate change crisis, which has caused as many as one million farmers to flee the once abundantly arable land. The rising sea levels and mass-pollution have and will continue to cause profound implications for the livelihood of local civilians. Consequently, migratory struggles in the Mekong Delta require earnest attention as it has a dramatic impact on regional stability.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Vectors of Society and Culture
KEYWORDS
Mekong Delta, Climate Change, Border Conflicts, Vietnam, Khmer Rouge
