Sichan Siv: From Cambodia to American Diplomacy
Survived Khmer Rouge labor camps, escaped on foot to Thailand, and rose to ambassador at the United Nations.
- Fled
- Cambodia
- Status
- Refugee
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1976
- Service
- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (1989 to 1993); U.S. Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council (2001 to 2006)
- Region
- Southeast Asia
Sichan Siv lost family members under the Khmer Rouge and was put to forced labor. Early in 1976 he jumped from a logging truck and walked for three days through mined jungle until he reached Thailand. He was jailed there for illegal entry, then taught English in a refugee camp before an American sponsor family resettled him in Wallingford, Connecticut. He arrived on June 4, 1976.
In the United States he worked his way through odd jobs and graduate school, then into public service. He served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and in the White House under President George H.W. Bush, and later as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. He told the full story in his memoir, Golden Bones.