Straight Refugeez
One of the untold stories of the current immigration hysteria sweeping America is the forced deportation of young Cambodians, mainly men, who came to the United States as infants and refugees after escaping the Khmer Rouge genocide, civil war and illegal US invasion and bombings of Cambodia. Their families, poor, uneducated farmers for the most part, were dumped in some of America's worst gang infested neighborhoods, leading many of these young children to join gangs. Even though they had 'permanent resident' status, felony convictions, some more than 10 years old, means under new draconian immigration rules they are being sent back to a country they do not know, where they have no families and little hope of escaping poverty. Even after serving time and paying back their debt to society, over 1500 Cambodians, some as old as 70 years, are being punished a second time and thrown into INS jails with no right to appeal. Over 200 have already arrived in Cambodia, leaving behind families, wives and children in the US. The deportees have no right to appeal, no right to see a judge to show that they have atoned for their past crimes and are living as productive members of American society. Considering America's role in the turmoil that swept through Cambodia in the 1970s, we are breaking the faith with these refugees.
Stuart Isett is an American freelance photographer based in Seattle, USA. After living for 12 years in Asia, his work continues to focus on the culture of the region and the dramatic social changes that have taken place there over the past two decades.
His work is widely published and exhibited and appears in publications such as The New York Times, Newsweek, Fortune, The Independent among others. Born in Switzerland and raised in the United Kingdom, the 40-year old Isett has an MFA in Photography from Columbia College in Chicago.
