PDR 31.2 DP-deWalque-dn-EPC-sp

BETWEEN 1975 AND 1978, under the regime of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia experienced massive killings and starvation, large-scale population transfers, forced labor on collective farms, and an almost complete destruction of the country’s school system. The extreme atrocities endured by the Cambodians have been documented and identified as genocide; yet few studies have quantified the extent or measured the long-term impact of these events. Using nationally representative household-level data from 2000, this study investigates the incidence of the mortality crisis over time and across socioeconomic and religious groups. The analysis was undertaken to determine the legacy of the Khmer Rouge period on the current population structure of Cambodia. Using data on siblings’ mortality from Cambodia’s Demographic and Health Survey, I show that excess mortality was heavily concentrated in the period from 1974 to 1980. I also show that adult males were most likely to die, indicating that violent deaths represented a large share of the excess mortality. Individuals with an urban or educated background were more likely to die, establishing that they were especially targeted. Muslims were less likely to survive than members of other religious groups. Infant and under-five mortality reached very high levels during the Khmer Rouge period and, unlike the pattern in subsequent periods, was as high among urban and educated households as in rural and less educated families. The study contributes to the literature on the demographic consequences of internal political conflict and violence.