Deportee/ Returnee Profiles

I finished filming with RISC and the returnees. I got a lot of great footage that PrYSM and Deported Diaspora, in coordination with RISC, will use to advocate for increased funding for RISC as well as for the on-going struggle for immigrant, refugee, and human rights. Most of these guys were around my age. Though we joked around and walked the streets together here in Phnom Penh, we couldn't be further apart. A tourist with purchasing power, excited to see all that is Cambodia; and a returnee, sentenced to a life and culture he never knew. Most came to the U.S. as refugees when they were toddlers or teens, and in a sense they are now refugees all over again.

Will have a lot to show you. But for now, here are the men who've shared their stories with me.


Name: Phon Phann, aka Touch (pronounced "tuy", means "small" in Khmer)
Age: 32
Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island
Deported: 6 years ago


Name: Steve
Age: 35
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
Deported: 4 years ago


Name: Sam Phroeun
Age: 25
Hometown: Lowell, MA
Deported: 3 weeks ago


Name: Smiley
Age: 32
Hometown: Fresno, CA
Deported: 6 years ago


Name: Song Im
Age: 45
Hometown: Providence, RI
Deported: 7 years ago


Name: Sokhat Long, aka Bonx
Age: 29
Hometown: Southern CA
Deported: 1 year ago



Name: Kim Ho Ma
Age: 32
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Deported: 7 years ago


Name: Johnny Boy
Age: 33
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Deported: 7 years ago