Original report from Phnom Penh
23 October 2008
Hundreds of young men have volunteered to join local commune militias in Oddar Meanchey province since the beginning of a border conflict with Thailand in July, officials said Thursday.
Between 500 to 1,000 young men have joined militias in all five of the province's districts, to bolster the nation's defenses in case of attack from Thailand as an ongoing border standoff continues, said Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhen.
Tensions between the two nations increased last week, following armed clashes at three sites near Preah Vihear temple.
The numbers of recruits had risen surprisingly high in recent weeks, Pich Sokhen said, but was due to months of tension between Cambodians and Thais on the border and some attacks of Cambodians.
"The recruitment of the militia right now we keep only for security in communes," he said. "But if the border becomes more tense, and they need the forces, we will send them directly to join the army."
Militia members can be recruited under a Ministry of Defense law and sent forward if trouble arises, Pich Sokhen said. None of the militiamen are currently armed with guns, he said, but many of them have knives, axes and clubs.
Officials in the border provinces of Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Pailin and Koh Kong reported no increase in militia recruitment Thursday.
The militia policy of the armed forces sets a maximum of 15 young militiamen, aged 18 to 30, per village, according Ung Narin, a forestry administration official in the Oddar Meanchey's Banteay Ampil district, who attended a commune meeting Wednesday where local leaders discussed recruitment.
Meanwhile, military commanders from Thailand and Cambodia met in Siem Reap Thursday in an effort to diffuse a new round of tensions in a border conflict.
Thursday's meetings took place between low-level secretariats, who discussed an agenda for a broader meeting between commanders on Friday, when the prime ministers of both countries are also expected to meet in Beijing.
Between 500 to 1,000 young men have joined militias in all five of the province's districts, to bolster the nation's defenses in case of attack from Thailand as an ongoing border standoff continues, said Oddar Meanchey Governor Pich Sokhen.
Tensions between the two nations increased last week, following armed clashes at three sites near Preah Vihear temple.
The numbers of recruits had risen surprisingly high in recent weeks, Pich Sokhen said, but was due to months of tension between Cambodians and Thais on the border and some attacks of Cambodians.
"The recruitment of the militia right now we keep only for security in communes," he said. "But if the border becomes more tense, and they need the forces, we will send them directly to join the army."
Militia members can be recruited under a Ministry of Defense law and sent forward if trouble arises, Pich Sokhen said. None of the militiamen are currently armed with guns, he said, but many of them have knives, axes and clubs.
Officials in the border provinces of Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey, Pailin and Koh Kong reported no increase in militia recruitment Thursday.
The militia policy of the armed forces sets a maximum of 15 young militiamen, aged 18 to 30, per village, according Ung Narin, a forestry administration official in the Oddar Meanchey's Banteay Ampil district, who attended a commune meeting Wednesday where local leaders discussed recruitment.
Meanwhile, military commanders from Thailand and Cambodia met in Siem Reap Thursday in an effort to diffuse a new round of tensions in a border conflict.
Thursday's meetings took place between low-level secretariats, who discussed an agenda for a broader meeting between commanders on Friday, when the prime ministers of both countries are also expected to meet in Beijing.
6 comments:
Iam feeling sorry for those young men for being fool by hun sen erratic behavior. If there is going to be a big war with thai, they will die for nothing.
hun sen is playing game with the khmer youth emotion....hun sen allows the thais to drag the issues for his political game with the khmer population and to stay on top of the oppositions. he never want to resolve the issue....
I wouldn't discourage fellow Cambodians to join and/or support our army to fight foreign invasion.
But patriotism and nationalism are not enough, and the outcome of any war is simply unpredictable.
Look at Lon Nol's declaration of war against the Vietcong and the North Vietnamese troopps who built sanctuaries in our eastern boder regions. Because patriotism and nationalism, many young men joined his army. The end results were desastrous for them and for the entire nation. (I was conscripted to serve the Lon Nol army for one year as well)
Look at Vietnam which sent troops to invade Cambodia on 25 December 1978 and oust the Khmer Rouge. It was roundly condemned by the international community. It got bogged down in Cambodia for ten long years and was forced to withdraw its troops in 1989 in the end. Furthermore, Communism that Vietnam was trying to impose on Cambodia also collapsed and with it Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern and Central European countries.
Look at the American war in Iraq and the Nato war in Afghanistan. There seems to be no end to both wars in sight yet.
We need to use our brain as well, and more of it.
Bilateral negotiations to get the Thais to withdraw their troops from our territory are an option, but so far they have led to nothing, and it is very doubtful we would get anywhere with them.
Another option alrady proposed by HE Sam Rainsy reproduced in this column (Monday, October 20, 2008:'Paris Accords Offer Solution to Border Crisis: Sam Rainsy',
Monday, October 20, 2008, Letter to the Editor of The Cambodia Daily
By Sam Rainsy) is another option.
This proposal calls for the resort to the Paris Peace Agreements under which State signatories, including Thailand, "solemnly undertake to recognize and to respect", among ther things, the "territorial integrity and inviolablity" of Cambodia.
Should there be any violation, State signatories could refer the matter to the UN Security Council and/or "call upon the assistance of the co-Chairmen of the Peace Conference on Cambodia", that is, Indonesia and France.
Sam Rainsy's option is the best and the most effective one. It would be all the more so if we could invite our August Retired Great and Valiant King Norodom Sihanouk to take the lead to refer the matter to the UN Security Council and seek assistance from Indonesia and France.
When Vietnam invaded and occupied our country, our King was very effective in mobilising international support for the anti-Vietnamese resistance cause.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Thank you Dr Lao Mong Hay,you are so right!!
Dictator Hund Xen play the gaim with our yuths,they have no job,they have no the true news,they are the same the frosh in the well,because of the dictator regime. Hun Xen like play the gaim with our people.
Please our yuth have to use our brain,don't listen tgo dictator Hun Xen,Hun Xen knows nothing .
7:32am,
You're WRONG!
If they die, they will die as heroes for defending the country. To die for defending a country is a MILLION times better than to live invading other country.
7:32. This is attributed to General S. Patton.
"No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country.
He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country"
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