Speaker. by Presidential proclamation. July 11. 1986. was declared "Cambodia Day." Ceremonies held at the White House that day commemorated the plight of the over 2 million victims of Poi Pot and the hundreds of thousands of other Cambodians who fled to escape the Vietnamese invasion and occupation of their country. One of the organizers of this commemoration was Chhang Song. the president of Save Cambodia. a private voluntary organization committed to publicizing the plight of Cambodia and aiding refugees who have resettled in the United States. Chhang Song. who served as the Minister of Information in the Lon Nol government. has been a tireless advocate of the Cambodian cause. He has worked long and hard to obtain humanitarian assistance to refugees and to hasten the return of a free and nonaligned government in Phnom Penh. In 1978. Senator DOLE and I passed an amendment calling for the United States to admit 15.000 Cambodian refugees who had escaped to Thailand from the living concentration camp that Cambodia had become under Poi Pot. Chhang Song played an important role in that effort. spending hundreds of hours talking with Members of Congress and their staffs about Cambodia and the plight of Cambodian refugees. When famine gripped Cambodia and threatened the survival of millions. Chhang Song again walked the Halls of Congress urging prompt food assistance and medical aid to the Cambodian people. President Carter and the Congress responded quickly and one of the international communitys most successful relief efforts was undertaken. When it became clear that the Cambodian refugees who had taken temporary asylum in Thailand could not return to their homeland. Chhang Song again argued for their resettlement in the United States and other Western nations. Today.
Keywords matched
refugees