"Those who are not protecting one’s own lands and are allowing neighbouring countries to encroach on one’s own borders are called traitors, including the prime minister of a country. I am not calling Mr. Hun Sen a traitor here. I just call him a betrayer of the Cambodian nation."
Editorial by Khmerization:- I have been called “a retarded gorilla bastard” by Mr. Hun Sen’s supporters for writing critical editorials criticising him. With what I am going to say in the following editorial, I am bracing for more lynchings. But I am fortunate enough to have lived in a free country and, with the advance of internet technology, I am able to speak my mind freely without fears and without having to suffer the same fate as many Khmer journalists working inside Cambodia who have been murdered and physically harmed every year. It is with conviction that, when it comes to Cambodia’s national interests, I will not be silenced.
Coming back to the topic, I read with dismay about Prime Minister Hun Sen’s reactions to claims of border violations by our neighbours. It is sad to hear a prime minister of my country dismissing claims of border encroachments as “stupid lies”. It is also irresponsible and insulting of the prime minister of a country to declare that he will provide “free coffins” to those who wanted to protect and defend Cambodia’s own borders (read the article below).
Border problems and border encroachments by our neighbours is not a myth but are real. A responsible prime minister would have ordered an investigation on the grounds every time there is a claim of border encroachments. Most of the encroachments are not reported by armchair analysts writing from their office in New York or Sydney. Most encroachments were reported by villagers living in the encroached areas who have been robbed of their ancestral lands everyday by the Vietnamese and the Thai authorities.
Claims of encroachments in Phum Dong and Bavet in Svay Rieng have been in the public domain for years as well as in Takeo, Kandal, at O’Yadao in Rattanakiri and Kampong Cham. On the Thai side, encroachments occurred at Anlong Veng, O’Smach, O’Bei Choan and in the Dangrek Ranges region and probably at Preah Vihear temple too. These are encroachments which have been reported by the villagers living in the areas of the encroachments.
There are suggestions that Vietnam and the Vietnamese villagers have claimed that they have lost their lands as well- meaning that Cambodia or the Cambodian villagers had encroached on Vietnam’s borders, stolen their lands to be exact. These suggestions are baseless and absurd. Cambodia cannot even protect its current borders let alone trying to encroach on the borders of a powerful neighbours, especially Vietnam.
Those who are not protecting one’s own lands and are allowing neighbouring countries to encroach on one’s own borders are called traitors, including the prime minister of a country. I am not calling Mr. Hun Sen a traitor here. I just call him a betrayer of the Cambodian nation.
Supporters of Mr. Hun Sen, who refused to believe that border encroachments had occurred, believed that Mr. Hun Sen is a Khmer patriot who will do anything to protect Cambodia’s borders. The fact that Mr. Hun Sen is in denial and did not utter a word of protest means that there is no encroachments. Those who are in this category are trying to whitewash Mr. Hun Sen’s irresponsibility. And a responsible Prime Minister would not have dismissed claims of border encroachments as “stupid lies”. A responsible prime minister would not have tried to intimidate those who want to protect their borders by offering to provide them with “free coffins” if they dare to do so. Such irresponsible behaviours would only have come from “a betrayer of the Cambodian nation”. //END// For more details please read the article below.....
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Prime Minister Hun Sen Reacted to the Accusations About Land Sales to Foreigners
Hun Sen: Accusations about land sales to foreigners are "stupid lies".
28th Feb. 2008
By San Sovit
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization
In relations to the loss of Cambodia’s lands there were accusations which were levelled against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen of selling lands to foreigners or to foreign companies under the guise of land concessions for economic developments and for investments in the developments of rubber and teak plantations.The Prime minister dismissed those accusations as “stupid lies”.But leader of the opposition party has said in the past that many foreigners have taken up Khmer citizenship and therefore they can still buy lands in Cambodia.In relation to the sale of lands to foreigners, Prime Minister Hun Sen has said on Wednesday, in a ceremony to inaugurate the foundation of a Buddhist temple at Wat Tuol Preah Reachea, Po Ban Sub-District, Koh Thom District, Kandal Province, that the accusations is a sad saga.Prime Minister Hun Sen said: “I think that the topic of land sales to foreigners is a sad topic and it is a topic which is insulting to our own race. What can we do because our ancestors have only left that much lands to us? What we need to protect is what was inscribed in the constitution. That is enough! Some people want to reclaim Kampuchea Krom. Please go! At one occasion I have told them that: if you want to take back Kampuchea Krom, you can go. I don’t have the capacity to take it back but I will provide the coffins for your burial.” //END//
Posted by khmerization at 3:23 PM 2 comments
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Prime Minister (Hun Sen) Rejected Criticisms on Borders
Son Chhay (far left), Kem Sokha (letf) and PM Hun Sen (bottom).
27th Feb. 2007
By Keo Nimol
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization
Prime Minister Hun Sen has rejected criticisms that during his rule Cambodia’s neighbours had encroached on Cambodian borders everyday.Speaking during a religious ceremony in Koh Thom district in Kandal Province on 27th February the Prime Minister said: “They said that each day Vietnam has encroached one metre, ten metres or one hundred metres and Thailand had encroached one metre, ten metres or one hundred metres. I think that according to what they have claimed, to this present day, Cambodia would have lost all our lands. I think that these sorts of propaganda, sometimes were made with the intention of insulting our own race. I think that the accusations about land sale to foreigners is a sad topic and is a topic which is insulting to our own race.”Kem Sokha, the President of the Human Right Party, who has recently criticised about the drafting of an amendment to the laws which will allow foreigners to own properties and lands, said in reference to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s remarks that: “According to the people, there were border movements. These claims didn’t come from one person only. There were many places of border encroachments. For example, in Takeo, many villagers told me that there were encroachments. In Kampong Cham they said the same. And in Rattanakiri I have received the same information from the people there.” Son Chhay, a member of the Parliamentary Permanent Committee and a member of the Sam Rainsy Party, said in reference to the border issues that: “If we talk about border encroachments, in some areas there were encroachments of 5 kilometres, 10 kilometres, 8 kilometres. According to border experts they have pointed to the maps that have been kept at the United Nations which shown that in 1994 we have declared “white areas” (overlapping areas) along the borders with our neighbours. And the declaration of such “white areas” has made Cambodia lost some parts of our lands along the borders. There must be an investigation using technical methodology so that our people will be satisfied.”In the past a border committer known as Cambodian Borders Committee, based in France and led by Mr. Sean Pengse, has often reported about border encroachments by Cambodia’s neighbours. The Committee had also appealed to the government to annul all border agreements with our neighbours signed between 1980 to 1993. //END//
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