The British government and the UN react to the outcry over the situation in Cambodia.
“Tens of thousands of viewers have called upon their MPs and the government to withdraw support for Pol Pot. Tonight, we bring you up to date on the reaction of the British government and the United Nations.”
Three weeks after Cambodia: Year Ten was screened, John Pilger made a studio-based follow-up to address the issues in the film that had caused a massive public and political response.
Alongside excerpts from the original film, Pilger discloses that British SAS troops have been training guerrillas allied with Pol Pot’s army since 1985 and says that, during the previous week’s United Nations session on Cambodia, most of the world effectively voted for the return of Pol Pot.
Pilger gets reactions from the director of Oxfam and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Sweden, whose government opposed support for any coalition that included the Khmer Rouge. A New York Times correspondent reveals that a secret organisation is funnelling aid through the non-communist resistance, with American involvement – a war funded by the CIA with secret money.
In a studio debate, Pilger interviews Ann Clwyd, Shadow Minister for Overseas Development, Dr Peter Carey, of Trinity College, Oxford, and Brian Walker, director of Oxfam at the time of Year Zero.
Cambodia: Year Ten (Viewpoint Special, Central Independent Television), ITV, 21 November 1989
Producer-director: David Munro; studio director: Hector Stewart (52 mins)
