Red Cross trying to help Cambodians locate lost family

Red Cross workers brought back a letter for Chhiv, left, that had been written by his missing son

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 11:52 a.m. HKT (0352 GMT)

In this story: 'Someday, I hope to come home' 'Life is hard' RELATED STORIES, SITES

KOMPONG SPEU, Cambodia (CNN) -- The decades of war and upheaval which shattered Cambodian society also left tens of thousands of people unaccounted for. But with the return of peace, many people who are seeking long-lost loved ones have new grounds to hope that they can find their loved ones.

The hope is a program developed by the Cambodian Red Cross which tries to track down lost people. The program, supported by the International Red Cross, is a nationwide tracking service.

"It's not easy," says Bun Seun, a 43-year-old Red Cross agent who travels the country, asking questions on behalf of those who've approached the Red Cross for help in finding long-lost family. "Villages change names. People move. Sometimes I can't travel because of security reasons. In the rainy season sometimes I can't travel at all."

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Nonetheless, the Red Cross has found 20,000 people and put them in touch with their relatives.

'Someday, I hope to come home'

Keo Chhiv thought time was running out for him. At 85, he feared he might never again see his son Chheang Chieu, who disappeared in the chaos of war 29 years ago. So he contacted the Red Cross for help.

The son was found, and two Red Cross workers brought back a letter to the father.

"To father and family," Chheang Chieu's letter read. "I am married with four children. I miss you very much, but I live far away and I am too poor to travel. Someday, I hope to come home."

Keo Chhiv can't read or write, so the Red Cross workers took dictation and wrote a reply:

"For my lovely son. I am well and happy. But I am old. Please come to visit."

Speaking through a translator, the elderly man said, "I miss my son a lot. I have missed him for so long. I am overjoyed now. I will pray to Buddha that I will see my son again."

85-year-old Keo Chhiv feared he may never see his son again after being separated in the chaos of war 29 years ago

'Life is hard'

When the Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975 they swiftly evacuated all cities and towns, sending over two million people on exodus into the countryside to take up rural work.

In less than four years, a million people -- one Cambodian in seven -- died from starvation, malnutrition and misdiagnosed or mistreated illnesses. Another 200,000 were executed as enemies of the state.

Moa Phun hasn't seen her son since 1979, when Vietnam invaded Cambodia and toppled the Khmer Rouge. She's had news that he survived, but no direct contact.

"I think of my son every day," she says through an interpreter. "I want to see him again. I am old, and life is hard."

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