74. Article in the National Intelligence Daily1
KAMPUCHEA: Harsh Vietnamese Policies
The Vietnamese appear to be pursuing policies designed to starve or drive out Kampucheans living in areas controlled by the Heng Samrin puppet government. [portion marking not declassified]
Refugees recently arriving in Thailand report that the Vietnamese have been mining rice paddies, forbidding access to fields, and killing Kampucheans attempting to gather ripening rice. Vietnamese forces apparently have also been taking food out of the country and confiscating relief supplies for their own use. [portion marking not declassified]
The distribution of international relief stocks to Kampucheans is being limited, and Red Cross and UN officials say that large quantities of undistributed food are piling up in Phnom Penh. Other obstacles that the Vietnamese have placed in the way of relief efforts include refusing to permit trucking of supplies from Thailand, limiting air access, restricting the number of international relief personnel in Kampuchea, and curtailing movement of relief officials already in the country. [portion marking not declassified]
Some 400,000 to 500,000 refugees have fled to the Thai border area in recent months—the highest total ever. Refugees once came primarily from western Kampuchea, but many are now fleeing Heng Samrin-controlled areas in the central and eastern provinces. The refugees report that the same deteriorating food and health conditions exist in those provinces as in the areas controlled by Pol Pot’s forces in the west. There are also reports that ethnic Chinese are being segregated and forced out of the country. [portion marking not declassified]
Expulsion of large numbers of Kampucheans will facilitate Vietnamese efforts to gain total control of Kampuchea and to establish a long-term presence. The presence of Vietnamese agricultural brigades, instructions to Vietnamese military cadre that they would be in Kampuchea for 10 to 15 years, and pervasive Vietnamese control over governmental functions in occupied areas are further indications of Hanoi’s intent. [portion marking not declassified]
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00401R: Subject Files of the Presidential Briefing Coordinator for [the] Director of Central Intelligence, Box 14, Folder 7. Top Secret; [handling restriction not declassified].↩