By Ratha Visal
Radio Free Asia (a station labeled insolent by Hun Sen)
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
"RFA observed that local (Cambodian) officials and authorities do not dare comment about them (border issues) in public even if they are aware of the violations into Cambodia (perpetrated by Vietnam). Public comments by these officials and authorities earn them reprimand from their superiors. Furthermore, the local population does not dare talk about it either for fear for their own safety."A plan to install border markers between Cambodia and Vietnam at the international gate located in O’Yadaw district, Ratanakiri province, causes concerns to both the Cambodian authorities and population living near this gate.
Up to now, even though there is an attempt to resolve this issue in order to install the border markers, officials from the Cambodian National Border Committee said that both sides have not come up to an agreement on a common point for delimitation yet.
Var Kim Hong, president of the Cambodian National Border Committee said that the lack of decision results from technical problems where the two sides want to find a correct location to install this new historical border.
Var Kim Hong said: “It’s not because we have maps that we can delimit the border, sometimes Ah Barang (derogatory remark for “the French”) they produce the map just to get over with, but they cannot be used, for example, it is not clear cut, this is not an error from our part. This causes difficulties to look for the separation.”
Since 1996, following the successive border disputes along the borderlines where troops were installed, the authorities from the 2 countries, and the two governments agreed that the zones occupied by each side will be temporarily preserved, and the disputed zones will be considered as “white zones” which will be discussed, resolved, and agreed upon by the border technical groups from the 2 countries.
Nevertheless, at the Vietnam-Cambodia international gate in O’Yadaw district, local population and authorities reported several instances of violation by the Vietnamese which encroached into Cambodia to clear forests, move their surveillance border posts inside the white zone, an area where both sides are prevented from penetrating into.
Son Chhay, the SRP chairman of Committee No. 5 of the National Assembly, said that there are numerous other instances of violation along the borderline in Ratanakiri province which involve the building of roads (in the white zone), and the unilateral installation of border markers by the Vietnamese side (without any consultation with Cambodia). Son Chhay said that these actions also violate the treaty which was recently signed between Cambodia and the Vietnamese government. “Vietnam builds roads (in the white zones) day and night along a borderline which it considers as its border, it installs small border markers also.”
During a visit to 2 provinces in Vietnam last January, Son Chhay said that the Vietnamese authority plans to open 5 more gates: 3 in Mondolkiri, and 2 in Ratanakiri.
If there is no prior agreement on the installation of border makers, Cambodia will suffer significant losses of territories to Vietnam as the later can claim that the border gates it will build constitute the borderline.
Son Chhay said: “We have learned about some of the Ratanakiri problems when we visited and met Vietnamese officials. They ask us to be involved in the issue of border gate opening. As long as the (official) border markers have not yet been installed to delimitate Cambodia’s territories, the opening of these border gates will serve to benefit Vietnam’s interest.”
Regarding the Vietnam-Cambodia border issues, RFA observed that local (Cambodian) officials and authorities do not dare comment about them in public even if they are aware of the violations into Cambodia (perpetrated by Vietnam). Public comments by these officials and authorities earn them reprimand from their superiors. Furthermore, the local population does not dare talk about it either for fear for their own safety.
Var Kim Hong stressed that time is not the limiting factor in the resolution of border problems. He said that only the use of technical maps, actual measurements, combined with discussions and agreements without taking advantage of one another, can put to an end this problem. He also said that the Cambodian government does not want to see the loss of lands either. “It’s not like we want to gain anything, we only want to come out even in this resolution, that is, all of us must have the will.”
Nevertheless, Son Chhay said that because of the importance of the political influence Vietnam holds on Cambodian government officials, and combined with a lack of proper equipments needed for measuring the border, this border issue has dragged on for a long time and Cambodia will lose even more lands and waters due to the Vietnamese encroachments into Cambodia.
In February 2007, technical border delimitation teams agreed to set the border limit at the international gate in O’Yadaw district in order to install the new border marker there, however, it ended up in failure as the Cambodia-Vietnam teams do not agree with each other.
Sin Sear Ny, a technical official involved in the border delimitation of the O’Yadaw border gate, refused to comment on this disagreement. However, according to a border defense official, the technical team found out that the Vietnamese side cleared land and installed its border posts inside the Cambodian territory by more than 70-meter from the actual border line. Furthermore, problems are also encountered along 10 kilometers of borderline from the international gate where the Vietnamese encroached more 100-meter into Cambodia territories.
One anonymous border officer at the National Road 78 linking Cambodia to Vietnam, as well as local people living in this area told RFA in the past, that the actual borderline between Cambodia and Vietnam was located several dozens of kilometers away (inside Vietnam) from its current location.
A source informed RFA that another technical group of the Cambodian border delimitation committee will visit Ratanakiri province at the end of May 2007, and it will restart the border delimitation process again.
According to Son Chhay, because of the long delay in the border delimitation, the Royal Government of Cambodia ought to request intervention from international institutions, and it also ought to strengthen the border defense force, and in particular, the government ought to help settle more people to live along the border zone.
23 comments:
So ah Viet dog Var Kim Hong wants to give the whole Rattanakiri to Viet Hanoi? Is that it? Ah Var Kim Hong Viet dog cannot read the map and blame it on ah Baraing/The French? Is that it?
Damm you Var Kim Hong, Damn you!
The borderline should go all the way to Prey Nokor (Saigon then, Ho Chi Minh City now). Who dares win.
Var Kim Hong is Khmer born to an ethic Yuan. Is is called "Conflect of Interest" to allow Var Kim Hong to carry this border issue.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=21561
Hun Sen is a creation of Hanoi’s leaders, who installed him to power after Vietnam’s 1978 invasion of Cambodia in an attempt to colonize that country. After 52,000 soldiers were killed and 200,000 wounded in Cambodia, Hanoi’s army was on the verge of revolt. Hanoi had promised its soldiers that there would no more fighting once the U.S. left Vietnam and that soldiers would be rewarded with farmland. While Hanoi was withdrawing its army, Hun Sen stepped up to the plate for Hanoi and gave farmland in Eastern Cambodia to 100,000 demobilized Vietnamese soldiers and made them instant citizens.
Ahhh ... shut the fuck up. We aint
starting no war over no fucking
100 meters.
7:41 AM. Looklike the public are spitting at a gangster like you.
Protect what you have, even a centimeter of Khmer land lost to ah Youn is still a lost. We must report every inch to the international to intervene. The CPP will signed the land to PPV.
Bullshit, everytime we listen to
you, we end up losing the entire
province and a end up with a bunch
of dead people. However, if you
are willing to stand in front of
us as bullet shield, we will
considered it.
Are you saying Cambodia is no more a country now? Do you mean the bastard Hun Sen sold Cambodia to Viet Cong? Where is the UN?
So when did you take people's advice? You lied again. Why don't you just say it taht you are Yuan from Hanoi?
Just cannt trust the vc regardless of the time.
Stop asking stupid questions, Fluke's Boy.
And no one asking you to trust
anyone 8:53.
Eh, Ah Lob 7 Son Dan @ 8:47 AM! You seem to have a lot of free time making comments no sense, asshole! You are one of the worthless and useless son-of-a-bitch, asshole!
Come on boy, Ang Cong Cac An Cong?
Well, that is because you are thinking with your arse instead
of your brain, moron.
I told you that Cambodia still have the same fucken Vietcong puppet government since 1978! While the Vietcong continue to preach peace but their fucken action say the opposite! I swear to God that every fucken square inch of Cambodian land will be recovered once the devil claimed King Sihanouk and AH HUN SEN Vietcong slave and the rest of their fucken clan!!! NO peace to any Vietcong!!!
Fuck the Vietcong!
Fuck the Vietcong!
Fuck the Vietcong!
an where is your brain ah/mee kantorb 11:51 AM? ah hun yuon uses only his arse not his brain. ah hun yuon is hiv positive for ur info.
yo easy easy boy easy. ah viet cong are hiv positive, stay away from them if you want to live longer. ah hun yuon is hiv positive bcos of he did with ah viet congs.
This is just the result of illegal supplemental border treaty that this activity is contradict the international law.
All those Khmer signees will become the national treasons in the future of Cambodian young generations...
Yeah, right, keep on dreaming,
fool. Everything here is official
and binding forever.
Who is dreaming, no body can live 100 years, but the record of history will tell you.
All illegal activities are recorded like Pol Pot when your power is no place anymore...
Let see my dream will become true!
Well, no one have banned war to
occupy another country. You can
try that if you feel lucky, but
I am sure that you will lose more
than what you try to get.
There is a renowned non-profit, NGO institution called the National Geographic Society. It is an expert on cartogaphy and mapping. Cambodia and Vietnam should and ought to seek help from the NGS to solve their borders issues rather than relying on the old French map.
Yes, I think it's worth a try.
Could you provide us some link?
To 8:40PM
Please go the NGS.org
You will find some info and link to what you might be looking for.
Good luck!
Tep Thida
What am I looking for, 1:31?
Am I supposed to join NGS or
something?
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