The Khmer Rouge: The Cambodian Genocide

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The Cambodian Genocide began when the Khmer Rouge tried to overpower the government of Cambodia in 1975. They came into Cambodia with a big plan in mind, but resulted in doing the opposite. The Khmer Rough was very unfair and cruel with the way they decided to overtake Cambodia; they did this by evacuating cities to the countryside, making the Cambodians suffer, and leaving them with nothing. The Khmer Rouge, with the help of the U.S had dropped about half a million tons of bombs onto Cambodia, killing thousands of people. Many of the people that were angry about the bombings including those who had lost many family members. On April 17, 1975 this civil war that had been going on for five years had ended, and on this same day the Khmer Rouge went into Phnom Penh, evacuating the city into the country side. Their goal was to convert Cambodia into a classless, rural community; by eliminating anyone with an education, including the rich, poor, or worthless people. They forced about two million people into working in labor camps. The Khmer Rouge made life in …show more content…
Even though the genocide had finally ended, the lives of the people of Cambodia were still being affected by it. For example, many people were left widows or young children left as orphans; others struggled with mental issues or other health issues due to the lack of medical care during this time. Thousands of Cambodians left their country and became refugees. Rebuilding the country of Cambodia was the most difficult for them, they went several years without medical care, teachers, or other educated professionals because they were all killed during the genocide. The remaining Khmer Rouge leaders fled into China and Thailand to reestablish their forces. The Khmer Rouge was lead by Pol Pot until he died in 1998 of natural causes. The group existed until 1999 when finally all the leaders were defeated and were arrested or