On the outskirts of Phnom Penh is a sanctuary for lost souls in Cambodia. All here are US-born children of refugees who fled the Khmer Rouge. But things went wrong for them there. They turned criminal, became gangsters, traffickers. America preferred to get rid of them.

“I’ve been in plenty of gangs...You know, when you’re a kid….,” says Spookie, trailing off, his body tattoed and his face scarred. “You don’t think right. Your brain is not right. When you’re a kid you only think about enjoying yourself...and the more you do it, the more you get into trouble...Now I'm old...I’ve mellowed,” he adds.

Under law in America, immigrants who are convicted twice as felons are sent back to their country of origin. They are thus condemned to live in the country of their ancestors, far from their country of birth. Spookie, a former gang-leader, is one such man.

It’s hard for these men to adapt to life in Cambodia. Despite their appearances and their roots, these men don’t know anything about the country, its culture or the language.

“We love America,” says Som Kosal, showing an American flag.

“When we were flown here,” recalls Kosal, “we were handcuffed in the jet. It was only when we landed in Cambodia that they took off our handcuffs. Frankly, I was scared. I thought they would shoot us in the street. I thought Cambodia was still a communist country.”

All these young men have a message of hope for the new US administration in Washington.

“I hope one thing: that the new president will understand our situation. We were born in the States. We grew up in the States. Our families live in the States. I hope this law will change. So we have the chance to be back there.”

Yet despite Spookie’s hopes, Washington has reduced programmes to help these returnees.

And those in Cambodia who are trying to help these men return to their ancestors' land are worried. “I’m very concerned for our programme and for them,” says Sonec Tan, a RISP coodinator (a returnees integration programme), “because we have some people here who have some very serious psychological problems and who are unable to adapt to society. Without the help of the programme, they will end up in the streets. They will die or end up in jail.”