New People (Cambodia)

{{short description|Civilian Cambodians exploited by the Khmer Rouge}}

New People ({{Langx|km|អ្នកផ្ញើ}} {{lang|km-Latn|neak phnoe}} or អ្នកថ្មី {{lang|km-Latn|neak thmei}} or អ្នក១៧មេសា, neak dap pram pii mesa, {{literal translation}} 'April 17th people') were civilian Cambodians who were controlled and exploited by Angkar and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia (officially then known as Democratic Kampuchea) after taking power on 17 April 1975.

On 5 January 1976, the Maoist dictator Pol Pot (Saloth Sâr or Brother Number One) turned Cambodia into a secretive society isolated from the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia, aspiring for the country to become akin to the Khmer Empire, with its final ruler Borom Reachea II as king.

The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) ordered the evacuation of all urban centers, sending the entire urban population into the countryside to work as farmers, as the CPK tried to reshape society into a model that Angkar had conceived.

The Cambodian population was divided into several classes such as Feudalists, Capitalists, petite bourgeoisie, Peasants, Workers and Special classes, similarly to how political groups led by Maximilien Robespierre of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror divided and categorized people in France into five groups, such as the Montagnards, Girondins, sans-culottes, Royalists, and the Jacobins.

The soldiers, civilians, and leaders had to wore a red and white gingham krama scarves, as well as plain black clothing as a national uniform for all Cambodians.

Generally, everyone who was from urban areas were classified as New People ("new", because they were new to the rural countryside) and people from rural areas were classified as Base People (អ្នកចាស់ neak chas or អ្នកមូលដ្ឋាន neak moultanh).

One of the Khmer Rouge mottos, in reference to the New People, was "To keep you is no profit. To destroy you is no loss."{{citation |first=Soizick |last=Crochet |title=Le Cambodge |publisher=Karthala |location=Paris |date=1997 |isbn=2-86537-722-9 |page=115 |language=fr |quote=à vous garder nul profit, à vous éliminer nulle perte}}.

{{citation |title=The Roots of Evil |first=Ervin |last=Staub |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1989 |isbn= 9780521422147 |page=192}}.

New People were not allowed to own any property, and they were forced to work at least from 16 to 18 hours a day, often more.

Their food rations were so small that many starved to death.

Disease was rampant.

In 1976, it was estimated that 80% of the Cambodian population had malaria.