More than 5,000 people of Vietnamese origin living on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake have arrived in Vietnam paperless. Only 20 have been provided with Vietnamese citizenship.

The returned Vietnamese mostly now live in the area of Dau Tieng Lake in Tay Ninh Province and Long An, An Giang, Dong Thap, Dong Nai and Kien Giang provinces.

Many people have used the boats they travelled in for thousands of kilometres from Cambodia to Vietnam and then use them as their shelters in Vietnam.

There are over 1,000 Vietnamese living along Dau Tieng Lake which is nicknamed "the hamlet of overseas Vietnamese". They lack any documents to prove they are Vietnamese, except the language they speak. After living in Cambodia for so long, they aren't even familiar with written Vietnamese.

Tran Minh Dien, 90, wishes that he will be recognised as a Vietnamese citizen before he dies

Tran Minh Dien, 90, said that many generations of his ancestors lived on Tonle Sap in Cambodia. Their boats have become both their home and means of livelihood, and their children have been born on the vessels and lack official papers.

Despite having lived there for many years, they have failed to integrate in Cambodia and are not fluent in Khmer. Meanwhile, Tonle Sap has gradually become drier, causing difficulties for fishing, so his family have now travelled to Vietnam.

"My only wish that I will be recognised as a Vietnamese citizen before I die," Dien added.

Most of children of Vietnamese people living on Cambodia's Tonle Sap Lake are malnourished and suffer from rickets, and drowning is common.

These children lack opportunities to go to school.

Nguyen Thi Hoang, 68, who has returned from Tonle Sap, said that her daughter has nine children and she also knows some other families even have more than 10 children.

Hoang and her maternal grandchildren

Now, households living near Dau Tieng Lake also mainly live on fishing on the lake with very modest incomes.

Parents hope that they can be provided with the Vietnamese citizenship so that they can find a job to support their family and their children can go to school.

Hope for help

According to Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, Vice Chairman of Tay Ninh Province People's Commitee, the Ministry of Justice will have specific instructions to deal with the problems for people coming from Cambodia without papers in the coming time.

The province has identified their origin and now await instruction from the Ministry of Justice.

At a meeting on August 23, the Southwest Steering Committee discussed the measures on helping Vietnamese people who come from Cambodia, including the Tonle Sap area and other border areas such as Kandal, Kompong Thom, Kompng Chhnang and Posat.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue urged south-western localities to provide assistance to these people so that they can stabilise their lives.

The deputy PM also asked for tightened control in border areas adjacent to Cambodia with more people entering the country from Cambodia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also been instructed to work with Cambodian agencies to help improve the living standards of Vietnamese people in Cambodia.

The hamlet of Viet Kieu on Dau Tieng Lake