06/22/2007

The Bunong are coming to D.C.! Learn more here.

The Bunong (also referred to as the Phnong) people of Cambodia are one of several hill tribe groups that inhabit the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam border highlands. The Bunong population is small, roughly 30,000 people. Bunong people remain socially isolated from the larger Cambodian society. They worship forest spirits. They speak an indigenous language that until four years ago could not be written since it lacked its own alphabet.

Survivors of the wars that ravaged Southeast Asia in the 1970s, the Bunong today face new internal and outside forces that threaten their continued existence.
Lionel Rosenblatt, Refugees International’s President Emeritus, became aware of the Bunong’s plight when he found members of the group going home on a UN convoy in 1999. As the last of the 250,000 refugees returning to their homes in Cambodia, the Bunong received far less assistance than those who had been repatriated earlier.

Under Rosenblatt’s guidance and with advice from the Bunong, Refugees International has helped the Bunong maintain their ethnic identity while adapting to the realities of the 21st century. We have focused attention on education, health care, the promotion of traditional handicrafts, and helping the Bunong find their own political voice. RI has also urged the Royal Cambodian government, the United Nations, and other international aid organizations to help stem the hijacking of Bunong land by outsiders and to create a system for respecting Bunong property rights and cultural identity.