Foundation to fund Cambodian children victimized by Canadians

Janaya Fuller-Evans, Special to Vancouver Courier


Cambodian children victimized by Canadian pedophiles will get help from Canada, says the founder of Vancouver-based Ratanak Foundation.

While the Canadian government ended foreign aid to Cambodia this month, Brian McConaghy is determined that the foundation's centre will take in all children exploited by Canadians in Cambodia and foot the rehabilitation bill.

Though it's an expensive commitment, McConaghy says the situation is too dire to be "financially pragmatic."

"Some of these kids have been raped thousands of times," said McConaghy, a former RCMP forensic scientist. "It's a worst case scenario."

McConaghy says the child sex trade in Cambodia is directly linked to the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge. "It goes right back to the killing fields."

The Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 until 1979, allegedly killing 1.7 million people. Cambodian social structures such as law and education were eradicated. The country is still dealing with the atrocities of the recent past.

"The last thing you want is a poverty-stricken culture with no moral compass paired with incredibly rich pedophiles from the West with no moral compass, either," says McConaghy. "And that's what we have."

Ratanak was established in 1990, after McConaghy visited refugee camps in Thailand during the Cambodian civil war. Originally providing medical aid and funding for orphanages, the foundation started helping exploited children in 2005.

McConaghy has travelled to raise money to maintain the foundation's programs, just as the Canadian government has cut foreign aid to Cambodia, among other countries.

Canada's aid cuts came down as the first of five Khmer Rouge officials went to trial for genocide at a U.N.-assisted tribunal, 30 years after the regime ended.

Kaing Guek Eav--also known as Duch--is charged with crimes against humanity. Duch ran the S-21 prison in Phnom Penh where approximately 16,000 people were tortured and killed.

McConaghy doesn't believe the trials will heal the country, though he does think they are a necessary step. "I think Cambodians will go back to their homes feeling strangely empty. I feel it is going to be a big disappointment."

But forgiving and forgetting isn't the answer either, according to Ian Townsend-Gault, University of B.C law professor and director of Southeast Asian legal studies.

"The crimes of people like Duch, who is on trial, are so horrendous," Townsend-Gault said. "And there should be an accounting for it."

He also says Cambodia cannot change so long as prime minister Hun Sen, a former member of the Khmer Rouge government, is in power. Nor can it change without support from the international community.

While the Canadian government's coffers are being guarded more closely, Ratanak Foundation is surviving due to McConaghy's fundraising efforts. "It's certainly not a banner year for growth but I think we're going to pay all our bills."

Despite the foundation's modest financial success, McConaghy works with other organizations on their projects as well.

Agape International Missions, a Christian non-profit organization in California, partnered with Ratanak to lease a former brothel in Phnom Penh. It was gutted and rebuilt as a community centre and elementary school.

Fairview Presbyterian Church in Vancouver provided the construction materials and sent 10 congregation members to complete the renovations last May.

The centre hosts medical clinics a few times a week. The elementary school should open in September.