"Half a Century Later: How Cambodians Found Refuge in Australia After the Khmer Rouge"

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Key Points

A half-century has passed since Pol Pot led the Khmer Rouge to power in Cambodia, in 1975, after a prolonged civil war lasting five years.
In the late 1970s through the mid-1980s, Australia took in several thousand Cambodian refugees.
As SBS celebrates its 50th year, many acknowledge the valuable role of its in-language programs in helping them acclimate to life in Australia.

Phiny Ung’s late husband, Bun Heang, left behind illustrations that serve as a time capsule of their memories—depicting the hardships they faced after the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia, renaming it Kampuchea.

Under Pol Pot’s leadership, an estimated two million Cambodians lost their lives between 1975 and 1979 as the regime pursued its vision of a ‘classless’ society.

Drawings by Phiny Ung’s late husband Bun Heang. Credit: SBS

It has been estimated that the Khmer Rouge murdered almost a quarter of the population through mass executions, torture, starvation and forced labour.

“That was the time when everybody in the city had to be evacuated and that’s when our life changed completely … it turned upside down,” Ung said.

“There’s no comfort in the loss, but the one thing that eased me a little bit, is that I’m not the only one.”

Phiny Ung and her late husband Bun Heang after arriving in Australia with their baby daughter. Credit: Phiny Ung

Forced to flee Cambodia, Ung arrived in Australia with her husband and young daughter in 1980 and was later able to sponsor her mother and remaining siblings to join them in their new home.

“The moment I arrived, I felt nothing but safety and freedom. Those are the only words I can express; I was no longer under any threats and was treated as a human being,” she recalled.

Phiny Ung today. Credit: SBS

Australia accepted several thousand Cambodian refugees from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s.

According to the 2021 Census, there are currently just over 39,000 Cambodian-born people living in Australia.

Five siblings, father killed

For Seda Douglas and her mother, Touch Liv, the memories of what happened in Phnom Penh in 1975 are still raw.

“They said if you want to survive, you must leave the village, your family is not safe,” Douglas said.

Seda Douglas (right) with her mother, Touch Liv. Credit: SBS

Douglas’s five siblings and her father were killed by the Pol Pot regime.

Liv shared: “When my five children died, I never got to see their faces again. I was left in the forest, working on farming in Boeung Sdor, hidden among the bushes.”

I did not see my husband, I did not see my children until they died, I still could not see them for the last time.

Touch Liv

The two women arrived in Australia in 1983 with Douglas’ surviving brother.

“I don’t normally celebrate my birthday but I celebrate the day that I arrived in Australia because I was given an opportunity to restart my life and I did it well,” Douglas said.

The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh. It’s estimated as many as two million people were murdered or died from starvation under the Pol Pot dictatorship. Credit: Pascal Deloche/Getty Images

SBS Khmer launched

To assist the growing Cambodian community, the SBS Khmer program first started broadcasting in 1979 — and continues to serve as a vital source of news and information.

Douglas went on to work with SBS Khmer in the 1980s.

“We wanted to hear what’s going on in Australia, the government, but mainly we were concerned about what’s going on in Cambodia because we left the country by force not by choice,” she said.

A portrait of Phiny Ung by her late husband, Bun Heang. Credit: SBS

For Ung, the anniversary is painful, but a portrait, painted by her late-husband while the pair were still in Cambodia, holds a special memory.

“He just found three or four colours in the sea of rubbish that he can mix and match. I sat for him a few hours a day,” she said.

Ung had to leave the painting behind when she fled, but in 1989 she was reunited with her aunt in Cambodia. To her surprise, she was also reunited with the portrait as well as her father’s sword, a family heirloom.

“It’s so much of a souvenir … it’s the love in our relationship, husband and wife.”

Your stories have shaped SBS for half a century. Together, we’re just getting started. Join us as we celebrate 50 years of belonging on our SBS50 portal and SBS50 content hub.