Phnom Penh Post
Forty-five Cambodians were shot dead after crossing into Thai
territory last year to illegally log rosewood, a threefold increase from
2011.
The figure, obtained yesterday from the Cambodian-Thai Border
Relations Office, shows an explosive increase in logging deaths in
recent years.
Fifteen people were killed in 2011, nine in 2010, and eight in 2009.
Pich Vanna, deputy chief of the Cambodian-Thai Border Relations
Office, told the Post that senior military officials met yesterday to
discuss the situation.
“We have insisted that our Thai counterparts make the effort to not
shoot at our people and instead take legal action, but they continue to
shoot again and again. Therefore, we have to make the effort ourselves
to restrict people not to illegally cross the border for illegal
rosewood logging,” said Vanna.
“In 2013, we have ordered all armed forces along the border with Thailand to increase restriction for monitoring our people.”
In addition to the deaths, 264 Cambodians were arrested last year by
Thai authorities in conjunction with alleged illegal logging.
Government officials have insisted they are taking pains to staunch
the tide, but rights workers said the data paint a different story.
“Regarding the increase, I think it’s very likely that people in the
border provinces have access to fewer and fewer resources. Their
livelihoods are threatened... Poverty is really the driving force,” said
Nicolas Agostini, a technical adviser who focuses on land issues at
Adhoc.
“Yes, [the government] is educating people, for sure, but they have
to have access to a livelihood and a means to making a living in
Cambodia. That’s less and less possible at the moment.”
While Thai authorities say after each shooting that their soldiers
were acting in self-defence, Agostini pointed out that officials have
rarely – if ever – presented evidence of such a claim.
“The key point is to launch meaningful investigations into each case
of violence related to logging and each case of suspected illegal
logging [whomever the suspects are]. This applies to Cambodian as well
as Thai authorities.”
Requests for comment to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs went
unanswered, while the Thai Foreign Affairs Ministry said they could not
comment as it was a holiday.
In the past, Cambodian officials have said they send protest notices
after every incident, though rights workers have noted that no soldier
has ever been punished after killing an illegal logger.
Just last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen said he had signed a circular
to crack down on rosewood logging and trafficking – an announcement met
with derision from experts, who said the effort, though laudable, came
far too late.
Over-logging of rosewood within Cambodia’s borders in recent years
has all but depleted the stocks − resulting in a spike in prices for the
luxury wood abroad − forcing loggers farther and farther into
Thailand’s territory.
Chea Slonh, district police chief of Banteay Meanchey’s Svay Chek,
said loggers spent days at a time venturing deeper into Thai territory
to log wood.
“They cross the border for two or three days and get about 10
kilometres deep into Thailand. If they’re able to return with rosewood,
each can earn from $200 to $1,000.”
Vanna, of the border office, admitted that poverty likely played a
role in encouraging villagers to take the risk of illegally logging.
“Because of their personal living conditions, our villagers are easily convinced by ringleaders into seeking rosewood,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Vong Sokheng at
sokheng.vong@phnompenhpost.com
With assistance from Abby Seiff
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