About 100 plainclothes men, some wielding
sticks, tried to block a group of opposition activists and youth supporters in
Svay Rieng province yesterday from reaching a disputed section of the
Cambodia-Vietnam border.
Clashes
broke out at about 10am between the group of Cambodia National Rescue Party
activists, led by Svay Rieng lawmaker-elect Real Camerin, and the crowd armed
with sticks, who were identified as supporters of the ruling Cambodian People’s
Party.
“We are
not allowing [them] to go: We are living in happiness,” one of the men blocking
the CNRP said, offering no further explanation.
The
alleged CPP supporters also attempted to block the CNRP’s route with large
pieces of wood.
But
after a few minutes, the violence subsided, with no serious injuries, and the
CNRP activists moved the ad hoc barricade and made their way to the border in
Romduol district.
Camerin
said he wanted to investigate allegations that Cambodian farmers had been
blocked by Vietnamese soldiers from using the land that they had farmed for
years.
“I
would like to condemn [Prime Minister] Hun Sen’s government for using force to
block [CNRP supporters] from visiting the border post,” Camerin said.
“People
have lost their land: This is the real evidence. I would like Hun Sen to consider
this,” he added.
While
he was inspecting the border earlier this month, Camerin was told by a
Vietnamese soldier that the area was off-limits.
“At the
[undemarcated] ‘white area’, the yuon can use and do anything,” Camerin said in
a video of the encounter, using a word for Vietnamese often considered
offensive. “As a lawmaker-elect, I must know where Khmer land is, and I must
have rights to stand on Khmer land.”
In the
video, a soldier tells Camerin that it is unclear which country owns the land.
“Wait
for both governments to resolve this,” the soldier says.
A
number of the farmers at the centre of the dispute joined Camerin at the
border.
One of
them, Nhean Lorn, said he represented 12 families in Romduol district’s Thna
Thnong commune who claim to have lost more than 30 hectares of land to Vietnam.
“The
Vietnamese authorities prohibit me from farming on my own land,” he said.
“I lost
3 hectares of land. They told us that they will leave this area as a white
area, but they planted posts on our land,” he added.
Another
farmer, Rath Nean, said that his livelihood had been destroyed by the land
dispute. “My family has lost about 100 palm trees on 2 hectares of land. We
used to make palm juice,” he said.
Svay
Rieng Provincial Governor Cheang Am and Romduol District governor So Vichean
could not be reached for comment yesterday.
But
Romduol district police chief Meas Chork dismissed claims that the CNRP
activists were blocked from reaching the border.
“There
was no one blocking [the CNRP].… In fact, police followed to defend them in
case something happened,” he said.
Earlier
this month, senior border affairs official Va Kimhong told the Post that the
border committee would visit the area and clearly mark it this month.
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