Cambodia accuses opposition activists of creating insecurity along border with Vietnam

Published: 30-Jun-15 

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Svay Rieng Provincial Administration has accused a group of opposition party led by a lawmaker of creating insecurity along border with Vietnam after the group scuffled with Vietnamese villagers over a disputed border area on Sunday.

In a statement released to the media on Monday, the spokesman for the Svay Rieng Provincial Administration said the brawl, occurred on Sunday afternoon in Svay Rieng provincial border with Vietnam, left 10 Cambodians and 8 Vietnamese people injured.

The statement said the border inspection trip of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party led by its lawmaker Real Camerin had not been noticed to the provincial or local authorities for security and safety protection.

It added that when they arrived at the border area, the Cambodian authorities had tried to explain and ban them from inspecting border marker No. 203 because of safety concerns, but they still vowed to reach the marker.

"The Svay Rieng Provincial Administration does not take any responsibility before the law over the incident because this activity was made without a notice or cooperation with the authorities," the statement said. "The activity aimed to cause insecurity along border areas, which is completely contrary to the Cambodian government's position."

Real Camerin's aide Tep Narin told local media on Sunday that about 100 Vietnamese, armed with wooden sticks and accompanied by their policemen and soldiers, attacked about 300 Cambodian activists, who tried to visit the border marker.

Cambodia shares a 1,270-km border in the east with Vietnam.

Row in some areas along the Cambodia-Vietnam border began in recent months after Cambodia said it has found that Vietnamese authorities had dug eight ponds deeply inside northeast Cambodian territory in Ratanakiri province and constructed a military post at a non-demarcated border area between Cambodia's Kandal province and Vietnam's An Giang province.

The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent three diplomatic notes to the Vietnamese government this month in order to urge Vietnam to respect the borderline.