Vietnamese citizens cut timber inside Cambodian

By Khmerization
Source: RFA

Jarai tribal villagers in Rattanakiri province have on Monday 4th October called on the Cambodian authority to crack down on illegal Vietnamese loggers who have actively logging inside Cambodian territory in O'Yadao district of Rattanakiri province.

The call came after villagers detained and confiscated logging equipments from the Vietnamese loggers after they saw them working in small groups about 10 kilometres from their village deep inside Cambodian territory.

Sol Sophath, representative of the villagers, said the illegal Vietnamese loggers had been transporting timber into Vietnam for many months already and are still continuing to do so without any attempt by the Cambodian authority to stop them. He accused the local Cambodian authority, police and military of conniving with the Vietnamese. "Two Cambodian border guards named Chhat. Chhat is a policeman with Hun who received finance from another Vietnaemse named Hong Yuon", he said.

Ly Sovannara, commander of the Border Unit, cannot be reached for comment, but Mr. Suvan Khamvann, Deputy Police Commissioner of Rattanakiri in charge of Border Guards, said he had not received the report about the Vietnamese illegal activities but said the authority should allow the villagers to detain the illegal Vietnamese. "If the police do not arrest them (Vietnamese), why don't they let the villagers arrest them? Just wait, I'll check first", he said.

Mr. Chhay Thy, investigator with the human rights group Adhoc, said villagers had been asking for intervention regarding the Vietnamese activities. He said these cases involved corruption. "Vietnamese immigrants had been illegally entering Cambodia to secretly cutting timber along the border because our authority are too lenient with them and released them back (after they were arrested)", he said.