Oppositions and Khmer Krom wrote to visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister

By Khmerization

Source: CEN

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Association in Cambodia have called on visiting Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who is scheduled to attend a regional summit in Phnom Penh on Tuesday the 16th November, to treat Cambodia on an equal footing and as an equal partner.

In an open letter, released to the media on Saturday 13th, the SRP asked the Vietnamese Prime Minister to use the 5th Cambodia-Laos-Myanmar-Vietnam Summit in Phnom Penh to show Vietnam's respect for Cambodian sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence in accordance with the principles of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, which Vietnam was a signatory.

The calls for Vietnam's respect of Cambodia came after increasing allegations of encroachments by Vietnam on Cambodian borders due to demarcation works. The SRP letter also asked Vietnam to conduct border demarcation works correctly, not to take advantage by using its influences over the present Cambodian government to fraudulently encroaching on Cambodian territory. The letter stressed the SRP wants Cambodia to have good relations with all neighbouring countries based on the principles of mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, including human rights respect and the respect for the rights of Khmer Krom indigenous people living in southern Vietnam.

At the same time, a Khmer Krom association in Cambodia has also called for Vietnam to respect the rights of Khmer Krom people living in Vietnam. Mr. Thach Setha (pictured), a former Cambodian senator and current president of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Association in Cambodia, said his association will issue a statement calling on the Vietnamese Prime Minister to deal with Cambodia on an equal term as equal partner, while calling for the rights and freedom of his Khmer Krom people to be respected like other mainstream Vietnamese citizens.

The SRP and Khmer Krom 's calls have been criticised by the government as a publicity stunt to serve their political purposes.

Mr. Keo Remy, acting spokesman for the Press and Quick Reaction Unit, said the SRP should work within the framework of the parliamentary system to advance Cambodia's interests and not write an open letter to the Vietnamese Prime Minister. He suggested the SRP and the Khmer Krom Association to write a direct letter to the Vietnamese government through the Cambodian government and via the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia.

Mr. Keo Remy has also appealed to the SRP and other civil society not to disturb the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister like what they have done with the visits of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month.