Mr. Sam Rainsy leading the Kathen procession to Ang Romdenh Pagoda.By Khmerization
The Sam Rainsy Party has come out to clarify the event of the uprooting of six demarcation poles on the Khmer-Vietnamese borders on 25th October by villagers and party activists, reports Radio Free Asia.
The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry had immediately issued a statement condemning the SRP's actions as illegal and a violation of the Khmer-Vietnamese treaties and agreements signed by the two governments.
Mr. Sam Rainsy, the party president, was unavailable for comments because he had left for a conference of the International Organistation of the Liberals in Egypt. However, Mr. Yon Tharo, an SRP MP, said the SRP's action was in response to the complaints of the villagers. "The villagers had complained to the members of parliament, I was there too, that the Vietnamese had planted demarcation poles on their lands. They said the borderlines were located far away from their lands, but now they (Vietnamese) cut off their lands, some lost 1 hectare and some lost 2 hectares. This is what they complained to us. So when President Sam Rainsy finished the Kathen procession and ceremony, about 100 villagers and President Sam Rainsy along with Khmer policemen went to the area in question. I don't know whether the policemen were border police or local laws and orders police, I don't know. And there were 7 or 8 of them who went with us and we saw 200 metres in length of their lands, in total 2 hectares of their lands, had been cut off and that I saw with my own eyes. And we saw a border demarcation pole, with concrete base, was planted in the middle of their rice-fields along with six wooden poles. Mr. Sam Rainsy said he will pull out these wooden poles, this was his idea and he will take full responsibility. He just said like that but he didn't uproot any poles yet. But the villagers, as soon as they heard he said like that, they started to uproot the poles straight away, 6 of them", he said.
On the question of a condemnation from the Vietnamese authority, Mr. Yon Tharo proposed that both Khmer and Vietnamese authority go to see the area together. "For me, I think that Vietnam reacted because (what we've done) was based on what was the reality on the ground. Now, if we want to see the reality, we should go to the borders together, the border committees and the villagers, but I don't know where the actual borderlines lie, but the villagers said that they have lost at least 2 hectares of their rice-fields. This I see that Cambodian borders had really been encroached", he said.
Mr. Yon Tharo said that during the Kathen ceremony many villagers had cried imploring Mr. Sam Rainsy to help take back their lands, cut off by the new border demarcation poles. He also denied the Vietnamese accusations that Mr. Sam Rainsy uprooted the poles and brought them to Phnom Penh. "The permanent border pillars are still intact, no one took them anywhere", he added.
On 1st November, the SRP issued a press release saying that the party has been sued by the Cambodian local authority for the “sabotage, destruction and theft of public property.”
The Sam Rainsy Party has come out to clarify the event of the uprooting of six demarcation poles on the Khmer-Vietnamese borders on 25th October by villagers and party activists, reports Radio Free Asia.
The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry had immediately issued a statement condemning the SRP's actions as illegal and a violation of the Khmer-Vietnamese treaties and agreements signed by the two governments.
Mr. Sam Rainsy, the party president, was unavailable for comments because he had left for a conference of the International Organistation of the Liberals in Egypt. However, Mr. Yon Tharo, an SRP MP, said the SRP's action was in response to the complaints of the villagers. "The villagers had complained to the members of parliament, I was there too, that the Vietnamese had planted demarcation poles on their lands. They said the borderlines were located far away from their lands, but now they (Vietnamese) cut off their lands, some lost 1 hectare and some lost 2 hectares. This is what they complained to us. So when President Sam Rainsy finished the Kathen procession and ceremony, about 100 villagers and President Sam Rainsy along with Khmer policemen went to the area in question. I don't know whether the policemen were border police or local laws and orders police, I don't know. And there were 7 or 8 of them who went with us and we saw 200 metres in length of their lands, in total 2 hectares of their lands, had been cut off and that I saw with my own eyes. And we saw a border demarcation pole, with concrete base, was planted in the middle of their rice-fields along with six wooden poles. Mr. Sam Rainsy said he will pull out these wooden poles, this was his idea and he will take full responsibility. He just said like that but he didn't uproot any poles yet. But the villagers, as soon as they heard he said like that, they started to uproot the poles straight away, 6 of them", he said.
On the question of a condemnation from the Vietnamese authority, Mr. Yon Tharo proposed that both Khmer and Vietnamese authority go to see the area together. "For me, I think that Vietnam reacted because (what we've done) was based on what was the reality on the ground. Now, if we want to see the reality, we should go to the borders together, the border committees and the villagers, but I don't know where the actual borderlines lie, but the villagers said that they have lost at least 2 hectares of their rice-fields. This I see that Cambodian borders had really been encroached", he said.
Mr. Yon Tharo said that during the Kathen ceremony many villagers had cried imploring Mr. Sam Rainsy to help take back their lands, cut off by the new border demarcation poles. He also denied the Vietnamese accusations that Mr. Sam Rainsy uprooted the poles and brought them to Phnom Penh. "The permanent border pillars are still intact, no one took them anywhere", he added.
On 1st November, the SRP issued a press release saying that the party has been sued by the Cambodian local authority for the “sabotage, destruction and theft of public property.”
2 comments:
Mr. Rainsy did the right thing in protecting Cambodia's borders. The Cambodian local authority should not sue him. To sue someone who is trying to protect our own borders is like committing treason.
The CPP and Hun Sen sold out our nation and borders and now turning to sue those who try to protect our borders. It is absurd!
Hun Sen and his govt are the Vietnamese slaves. There are not khmers remember this.
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