Sam Rainsy pulled out border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam in Svay Rieng
26 October 2009 By Uon Chhin Radio Free Asia Translated from Khmer by Socheata Opposition leader Sam Rainsy pulled out border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam planted in rice fields belonging to Cambodian farmers in Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province on 25 October. Sam Rainsy’s action took place while he was leading a Kathen procession to that region. At Wat Ang Romdenh Pagoda, Sam Rainsy gave a speech to the 300 participants about the border problem. After listening to the complaints by local villagers, Sam Rainsy claimed that the loss of rice field lands was due to the border demarcation. He then went on to visit these rice fields with about 100 people, and he decided to pull out 6 border posts planted on the rice fields belonging to the [Cambodian] villagers. Sam Rainsy said: “I led them to pull out these border posts and throw them away. This is a symbol of nationalism that the SRP sets, i.e. we do not recognize the violated border improperly planted by the foreigners on the rice fields belonging to Cambodians, these are Cambodian farmers’ lands, these are Khmer lands. I call on all Cambodians who have Khmer blood and consciousness to defend and uphold our lands, our lands keep on shrinking smaller and smaller.” Prom Chea, a 43-year-old farmer from Koh Kban North village, Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, indicated that he lost 2 hectares of land [due to improper border demarcation] and villagers in the entire Samrong commune have lost numerous hectares of lands also. Prom Chea said: “The cops, the soldiers, they kept on saying this and that, they never came to look at the situation. They [Vietnamese] cheated us in the [border] measurements, they fooled us. When the Cambodian side came and set [the border] at 100-meter from the east, they [Vietnamese] would take 200-meter to the west. In the long run, they push us out, they don’t allow us to come near the [original] border post next to our border. They [Vietnamese] do whatever they want.” Regarding this issue, Cheang Am, the Svay Rieng provincial governor, said that he just received the information from the Chantrea district authority indicating that Sam Rainsy pulled out border posts. Chean Am said that the border post installation is a technical issue, and he is puzzled by Sam Rainsy’s decision. Cheang Am said: “Even I do not dare touch them. The technical committees from both countries, Cambodia and Vietnam, did that work. They set the coordinates on the map and such, they have their equipments to measure. They don’t do as they please!” The border posts installation delimiting the border was undertaken by the Khmer and Viet authorities, and they started several years ago. Regarding this border delimitation, Cambodian villagers claimed that it seriously affects rice field lands belonging them and they said that these lands belong them for several generation-long already. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
