Monks To March on UN Over Border Dispute

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Original report from Washington 27 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 27 November 2008 (858 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 27 November 2008 (858 KB) - Listen (MP3)

Monks and Cambodians from various US states plan to hold a peace march at the UN headquarters in December, aiming to renew attention to ongoing border disputes.

The Community Center of Khmer Buddhist Monks will organize the march Dec. 10 to appeal to the UN to honor the 1991 Paris Peace Accords and have its signatories defend Cambodia’s borders.

Venerable monk Sao Khorn, head of the Massachusetts center, said Cambodian monks living on pagodas along the border were suffering a violation of human rights and sovereignty.

A monthslong military standoff between Cambodia and Thailand is centered around a the Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda on disputed land near Preah Vihear temple, occupied now by Cambodian monks and troops from both sides.