At border, authorities get in way of activists

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Meas Sokchea

Soldiers and police blocked a group of activists and monks in Kandal province’s Koh Thom district from visiting a section of the Cambodia-Vietnam border on Friday, activists said yesterday.

Oeu Narith, president of the Peace Youth Group, said armed forces stopped a group of about 200 opposition-aligned activists from reaching the border, where he claims Vietnam is encroaching on Cambodian land.

“I feel suffering because our government does not care about the border and is letting Vietnam move into Cambodian land. Khmer blocked Khmer from visiting the border.… We can’t accept this and we condemn it,” Narith said.

The activists had planned to visit the area following a ceremony in a nearby pagoda in Prek Thmey commune but authorities said they needed permission beforehand, Narith said.

“[You] can’t go out of the pagoda.… When you plan a trip like this, you must inform the authorities. But you did not,” a police official says in footage of the altercation.

Villager Sieng Ol said Friday’s blockade was not unusual.

“Police don’t ever allow us to enter to the place near the border post,” Ol said.

Authorities denied the claims.

Koh Thom district police chief Muy Chan Pich said he had tried to help the activists.

“We accompanied them to the border and told them not to cross over in case the Vietnamese arrest them,” Chan Pich said.

He added that the police were not responsible for controlling who was allowed to reach the demarcation post.

Border officials could not be reached.

In a separate incident last month, about 100 plainclothes men, some wielding sticks, tried to block a group of opposition activists and youth supporters in Svay Rieng province from reaching a disputed section of the Cambodia-Viet-nam border.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/border-authorities-get-way-activists

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Second protest: Krom groups headed back to embassy

Mon, 14 July 2014

Mom Kunthear and Laignee Barron

Khmer Krom organisations and activists are calling for another protest outside the Vietnamese Embassy on July 21 following what was perceived as an inflammatory remark by an embassy spokesman.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Khmer National Liberation Front – a Denmark-based rights organisation considered by the government to be a terrorist network – appealed to all Khmer citizens, Khmer Krom people and “lovers of democracy” to peacefully demonstrate against “exaggerated” claims that the former Kampuchea Krom land rightfully belonged to Vietnam rather than Cambodia.

At last week’s initial embassy demonstration, clashes left one security guard and several protesters injured.

City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said yesterday the government has not yet received a request for another protest. “We will have to see the purpose of their demonstration before we make a decision,” he said.