July 20, 1977: “The Khmer Rouge gave us sex”, says a Cambodian refugee to Paul Vogle of @UPI. “Every few weeks they let us line up outside the biggest house in Pailin. There were a couple of dozen girls and women there to take care of us. It was all free.” https://t.co/d9o71BKqce July 20, 1977: “We know nothing about Angkar, “the organisation”, except that it puts us to work 15 hours a day”, say escapees from Cambodia to Bangkok Post. They also highlight the impact of communal kitchens: without personal rations, escaping is even more difficult. https://t.co/NXupwHjRiO July 20, 1977: A Thai border patrol unit stumbles into a big detachment…

July 17, 1977: “Cambodia believes itself to be filled with revolutionary idealism and has shown itself to be empty of all humanity. No country in Asia is so much ruled by fear,” writes Bangkok Post.

July 12, 1977: PhnomPenh Radio expects an excellent harvest for 1977, but the Cambodian ambassador to Laos told local officials the rice crop would be “very poor”, due to the unusually low water levels of rivers, which render the newly constructed irrigation system ineffective.

5. June’s issue of Khmer Rouge magazine “Revolutionary Flag”, acknowledges food shortages: “the diet of some workers may be somewhat poor during the rainy season, leading people to be a little weak” 6. Surveying human rights country-by-country, @FCDOGovUK places Cambodia last A recap on what happened in Cambodia in June 1977 under the Khmer Rouge: 1. Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen, who is now Cambodian PM, defects to Vietnam 2. Vietnamese and Cambodian forces clash 3. More than 109 ethnic Jarai are executed 4. Laos and Cambodia establish an air link @VDacicus No, the districts were Grok Tram Kan (southwest) , Grok Kampong Tralach Leu (west), Srok Prasot (east)

June 30, 1977: The Khmer Rouge Central Committee awards the “Honorary Red Flag”, the highest honour, to only 3 districts. Factors for meriting the award: -increased production -improvements to living standards -independence & self-reliance -revolutionary stance & class struggle June 30, 1977: H. Kamm, who will win a Pulitzer, interviews Cambodian refugees in Thailand. Not allowed to leave the camp, many do occasionally work in agriculture or construction at less than the minimum of $1.25/day. Often “we are paid less than promised, or not at all.”

June 27, 1977: Thorn Piew & Pan Wan arrive in Thailand, after fleeing from a village near Battambang. They were married in a mass ceremony by Khmer Rouge officers, who come to their collective farm every 3-4 months to give lectures on farming methods and ideology. https://t.co/iM6vVrGA8w

June 22, 1977: The US House of Representative ignored a specific request by President Carter and voted to bar any aid to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, even through international organisations.

June 20th, 1977: 12 Cambodians “weak from hunger and some suffering malaria”, arrive in a refugee camp in Thailand. Initially they fled in a group of 60, but many were killed by Khmer Rouge soldiers or malaria. https://t.co/mm4pa6JqpU June 20, 1977: Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen (photo 2017), who will later become Prime Minister of Cambodia, defects to Vietnam to escape the purges of cadres taking place in the Eastern Zone. https://t.co/JMmlu6IrGH