Cambodian Issues - Op-Ed by Pretty Ma

Thu, Feb 11, 2010
Op-Ed by Pretty Ma

Dear Friends,

The government of Cambodia has been prevented from moving the issue to the international court by you know who - something they should have done a long time ago, but insisted on solving it bilaterally. They do not want the whole issue to spill over to the eastern frontier which will affect Vietnam's interests. It's the kind of game which Vietnam is more than happier to see. Here is a possible scenario, the war broke out, our big brothers moving in to help and stay, this time they won't be leaving. There won't be another UNTAC for Cambodia. Be careful of such unnecessary provocation of war - something which can be easily averted.

I am disturbed by the kind of language our PM Hun Sen directed personally at his adversary, the Thai PM. It is not something for any decent Cambodian to gloat about. If we were to be a civilized nation, then our country deserved much better than what PM Hun Sen represented during his discourse. Nothing to clap your hands to. This is dangerous for Cambodia. Bring it to the world court and let the issue be taken care of. There is no need to waste so much energy and tasteless wordings.

While the Thais are encroaching in and around Preah Vihear with support of their people, Vietnam is getting away with a murder as our Khmer farmers and our leader of the opposition, a potential future prime minster, are being prosecuted for defending Cambodia's interests - protecting lost to Vietnam on the Eastern zone.

Look at the issue closely, one need to realize that there haven't been much Thais moving in mass number into Cambodia lakes or rivers, not to mention all over Cambodia's provinces. I have not seen any Thai companies, nor any other foreigners beside Vietnam that received such incredible number, size and scope of land concessions. Let it be clear, Vietnamese are here to stay, work and live on those lands. You can lease your land to foreigners, but not your next door neighbours. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. In Cambodian case, it's self-destructive, and people are too afraid or too busy to want to know or even care about, since it's all politics. They often said, "sorry, we don't get involved in politics" Wrong, you and your nation are subjected to such ill-thinking and as a result, you are paying high prices for not wanting to get involved. They will tax your land, drive you out of your home, limit your freedom, put you in jail without given you due process etc..

With the new expropriating bill, who know where the seizure of land will end? When will the Cambodian people become the real Cambodian people? I meant with some sense of pride, of ownership,obligations, righteousness and most of all a conscience to be Cambodian - to have a real identity, not subservient like mentality and practices which has long been a curse to our nation and our people. When are we going to see who really standing up for Cambodia?

Continue on this sleep walking path, the silent majority and the country will one day end up in an aboriginal land. Be realistic of the immigration threat on the horizon. We are not statistically matched, 9 to 1 ratio, population wise, nor we are normal enough to think that this process can be easily reversed. It could be too late by the time you look around. Having said that, please do not blame or hate the Vietnamese people, they are innocent. If I were a Vietnamese, I would have been a happy camper to see this process go through for the good of my own people and my own nation, but since I am not, I am obligated to tell my Cambodian compatriots that they ought to vote other way before it's all too late. Democracy works well when there is a genuine balance of power. To be a smart participant of the democratic process, you need to take that into account in order to move your country forward responsibly as a citizen. So, time to wake up people and be a real agent of change, a change for the better, for long term peace, security and national preservation. Get rid of this idea of a one man show. It's primitive thinking and it's self-destructive at best.

When you have a balance of power, then changes can take place to a point where accountability and good governance can bear fruits. Without a genuine system of check-and-balance and end to systemic corruptions, Cambodia will always remain as my most respected mentor, Dr. Tith Naranhkiri has analysed and stated, "A fail State."

Six Questions for John Scott-Railton on Cambodia

December 23, 2009
Ken Silverstein
Harper's Magazine (USA)

While completing a master’s degree at the University of Michigan, John Scott-Railton helped develop “participatory mapping” projects aimed at protecting the fragile property rights of poor families living in Phnom Penh. While there he became an advocate of transparency in Cambodia’s natural resource management. Scott-Railton, now a doctoral student at the University of California-Los Angeles, has traveled extensively in Cambodia and throughout Southeast Asia. I recently asked him six questions about the political situation in Cambodia and the role there of the international community. (Note: For a look at the apparel industry in Cambodia, which is promoted by industry as the “anti-sweatshop country,” see my piece in the January issue of Harper’s.)

1. In theory, Cambodia has emerged as a multiparty democracy with political freedoms. What’s the general state of democracy in Cambodia?

Faltering. You can still find opposition members in the National Assembly, but the ruling party has overwhelming political, social, and military power. The stubborn few parliamentarians who refuse to play along have been stripped of immunity. Right now several face prosecution. The royalists were the last rival to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), but they split in 2007. Many suspect the CPP orchestrated the breakup. In the 2008 elections the party further consolidated its power, facing only a hodgepodge of smaller parties vying for a few seats.

Radio and television are tightly controlled in Cambodia. Public dissent can also be dangerous. Journalist Khem Sambo and his son were publicly gunned down in the run up to the 2008 elections. He’d been investigating high-level corruption. A local human rights group has documented at least 40 extrajudicial killings by police, soldiers and officials in 2008 alone. I’ve witnessed the fear of Cambodian colleagues who have received threats. It doesn’t really matter whether these acts were sanctioned by the regime or were committed by party loyalists for personal reasons: Cambodians can see that violence happens to dissidents. It doesn’t take many deaths to make many feel it is prudent to keep criticisms to themselves.

2. What’s the status and impact of the genocide trials?

After years of negotiation, the UN managed to orchestrate the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, aka the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. The first trial just wrapped up. Kaing Geuk Eav, prison warden of notorious S21 prison, faces a life sentence. The verdict should be handed down in January.

The calculated barbarities of the Khmer Rouge touched every family in the country. Cambodians yearn for the airing of testimony and the public trial of those responsible. But many clearly weren’t satisfied by the limited opportunity for victims’ testimony, or the slow pace of the proceedings, which are not expected to end before 2015. After waiting three decades for justice, it’s easy to see why many are impatient. Cambodians see the high-profile accused perpetrators are old and frail. One already has died in custody. It’s anybody’s guess how many will be alive to face potential life sentences.

Many Cambodians aren’t convinced about the independence of the process. The trials have been plagued with financial trouble as donors struggle to negotiate funding amid corruption allegations against trial officials and concern about the impartiality of the proceedings. They have also been subject to a great deal of interference from the regime. This has led many to believe that the trials will not address the links between powerful figures in the current regime and the Khmer Rouge.

3. How’s the economy doing? Is there a risk of the “resource curse”?

Cambodia’s natural resources (old growth forests, precious and metallic minerals, and oil) are disappearing into the opaque maw of the ruling elite. Take forestry: Over 30% of the country’s forest cover disappeared in the first half of this decade. But accurate maps of what the regime sold and to whom remain hidden behind the tinted windows of the Forestry Administration.

In the 1990s, so-called anarchic logging was the problem. Under substantial international pressure, the government shut down those small operators. But logging didn’t even pause. It just became a military operation, under the pretext of developing the forests for agriculture. Global Witness has shown that close associates of the Prime Minister were involved in these dealings. Cambodia banned their reports and kicked the organization’s team out of the country.

The discovery of oil came relatively recently. Proven reserves are capable of generating an estimated $1.5 billion plus peak yearly revenue. When rights were negotiated in a secret bidding process, Chevron got the largest bloc. Whatever Chevron paid for the privilege doesn’t show up in the national budget. I don’t think anyone expects oil revenues will do much for the average Cambodian.

4. What’s the role of the international community, especially the United States?

The regime has been dependent on Western aid from day one, and knows that allowing the international community access to policy-making is a good way to raise revenue. The regime sees new revenue on the horizon, including from Chevron, and it has responded by closing some of these doors. The international community is having a hard time adjusting to this.

I’m not sure that the U.S. thinks that our assistance is effectively promoting democracy at the moment. Direct aid to Cambodia was blocked until 2007, a legacy of the Khmer Rouge era. In a quid-pro-quo, the US agreed to restore direct aid in exchange for greater protection for opposition leaders and civil society freedoms. It was an interesting move, but not very effective. Several vocal parliamentarians have had their immunity stripped. Although some U.S. congressmen have voiced some strong concerns at home, we haven’t frozen the aid.

Many suspect that U.S. competition with the expansion of Chinese ‘soft power’ in Southeast Asia helps explain why aid continues to flow. Although its ambitions aren’t clear, China has worked hard to make itself a more attractive partner to the regime, offering aid and investments with fewer strings attached. The U.S. knows this isn’t exactly a hard sell, and may be reluctant to use aid to foster democracy when it is trying to keep a seat at the table. The regime has loosened the conditions on its aid by encouraging two powers to compete for influence.

5. What about the World Bank? Has it played a positive role?

Many feel that the Bank hasn’t consistently monitored its projects on the ground, resulting in a lot of waste, and a lack of accountability. But the Bank’s strategy may be changing. Partly in response to corruption, it has frozen funding for several projects in the past few years. This fall, it scrapped a massive, underperforming land-titling program. It also officially protested the epidemic of Cambodian government land-grabbing. Many observers hope the Bank will seek much more accountability from the government in the future. It can certainly improve its relationship with civil society groups in Cambodia by becoming more accountable and transparent itself.

6. Cambodia is flooded with international NGOs. What sort of impact have they had?

The record of NGOs in Cambodia is very mixed. If you want to see successes, look at the sectors where aid compliments the government, like public health, education and infrastructure. True, the projects are sometimes wasteful. But this is money that the regime doesn’t have to spend, and progress it can take credit for. The picture is different in sectors key to the regime’s revenue and political control. Organizations working on governance, natural resource management or civil society keep getting out-maneuvered. Some great people have dedicated themselves to Cambodia for the long haul. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of well-intentioned Westerners who show up without the background, experience or language to match the regime’s politicking. This plays into the regime’s efforts to paint international campaigners as clueless meddlers. Resentment of foreign influence and national pride continue to alienate many Cambodians from the NGOs.

Sam Rainsy Addressed the Cambodian People Through Live Call-in Show

01 January 2010

SAM RAINSY ADDRESSED THE CAMBODIAN PEOPLE
THROUGH LIVE CALL-IN SHOW

On 31 December 2009, SRP President Sam Rainsy, who is currently in France, took part in a radio call-in show broadcast live in Cambodia from 06:00 pm to 07:00 pm Phnom Penh time.

The call-in show was part of the one-hour-daily Candle Light radio program run by the opposition SRP which buys air time from a private radio station broadcasting from Phnom Penh on FM 93.5 MHz.

During the program and responding to many questions, Sam Rainsy elaborated on the political situation in Cambodia, the current tension with Thailand, the border issue with Vietnam, the worsening government-sponsored land grab affecting an increasing number of Cambodian farmers and, following the issuance of an arrest warrant against him, his decision to return to Cambodia as soon as the government frees detained protesting farmers from prison and gives them back their land.

To listen to the radio call-in show in Khmer please click at http://tinyurl.com/ygzkmnm

SRP Cabinet

Reflection on President Sam Rainsy’s Speech

May 3, 2008
Opinion by Justin C. Sok

“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.” - Aristotle

I wanted to take this important opportunity to share with everyone about the important information that I have learned from President Sam Rainsy’s speech at the banquet on the 27 of April, at the New Paradise Restaurant in Long Beach, California.

It was a very pleasant and a friendly atmosphere. Despite the short notice, there were still approximately two hundred people at the reception. I was glad to see some of our old friends and got acquainted with new ones. It was an honor for me, for the first time, to have met with President Sam Rainsy in person. We had exchanged greetings with Chum Reap Sur and shook hands.

President Sam Rainsy had spoken at length about the current political and social ills in Cambodia, which he whole heartily believes that if we, the citizens at all levels, through our collective insensitivity and inaction, we allow the status quo to either continue or become even worse. Consequently, our people and our homeland would face greater challenges in the near future.

President Sam Rainsy spoke eloquently with compassion and empathy about the struggles our people go through every day. For so many years, our people have endured so much suffering, which obviously stemmed from the inequality, injustice, and poverty caused by the Hun Sen Regime. President Sam Rainsy appeared enthusiastic, energetic, determined, and decisive about his strategic plans. He professed with confident on how he and his administration, should he win the national election in July, would plan to go about to resolve the political and social issues for our people and our homeland.

President Sam Rainsy expressed his heart felt concern with all of his supporters about the societal problems that include political oppression (death threats and threats to sue in the court of law), unemployment, poverty, land grabbing, eviction, and daily harassment by those corrupted officials of the Hun Sen Regime. He also emphasized on the important political issues that is include: economy (i.e. inflation), border issues, environmental concerns, and the continuing of influx of illegal immigrants, which is threatening our national security. President Sam Rainsy appealed to his countrymen, with all his heart for their full-fledged support to help elect him to become the next Prime Minister. He vehemently vowed to keep his promises. He plans to bring solutions to the Cambodian people when he takes office after July.

President Sam Rainsy had specifically pointed out that corruption is at the core of Cambodia current predicament; this has hampered the country from moving forward. His top priority is to eliminate corruption. He had wished to eradicate corruption since he had stepped up into political arena in the early 1990’s. Corruption is a cancer, which is imbedded deep down in our society among the rich and powerful. “Ah Tom Si Tom, Ah Touch Si Touch,” he stated. The corruption among the high-ranking officials and the privileged has continued to cause the country to deteriorate both politically and economically, and thus, indeed, has threatened our survival as a nation. My general intellects about President Sam Rainsy’s speech of an on-going corruption within the Hun Sen Regime has led me to believe that Mr. Hun Sen has completely failed to acknowledge these problems and/or Mr. Hun Sen is incompetent or is too ignorant to care to rectify these problems.

President Sam Rainsy has pointed out how the ways that Pol Pot and Ieng Sary’s Clique have killed millions of our people as compared to the ways our people are being killed now under the Hun Sen Regime. Under the Pol Pot and Ieng Sary’s Clique, our people were systematically killed. The people were executed right on the spot. The people were killed in mass and dumped into the ditches. The people were starved to death. People died due to a lack of medical treatment. The people were forced to work 20 hours or more, a day, with a little food to eat. The Pol Pot and Ieng Sary’s Clique constantly watched our people and guarded Cambodia under the iron curtain - no information about what had been going on in the country got out to the outside world. Within 3 years 8 months and 20 days, the Pol Pot and Ieng Sary’s Clique killed more than 2 million of our people.

On the other hand, the Hun Sen Regime is used a different strategic plan to kill our people. First is the land. Currently, land is a hot commodity and it is at a “high peak” in value. Mr. Hun Sen allowed his high-ranking officials to either force our people to sell their land at a lower price or their land would be confiscated and they would not be compensated. Mr. Hun Sen allowed the foreign companies to buy off thousands and thousands of acres of land, rubber plantations, and hired people to work at low wages. The high-ranking officials put our national monument “Angkor Wat Temple” for lease and pocketed the money. Our own people are being evicted; their homes have been bulldozed and burned down. They were chased and prodded from their land and villages. As a result, our people are ended up in the streets begging for food for their survival. Some of our people have no choice but to choose dumpsites as their living squatters.

Second, illegal immigrants have swarmed into our Tonle Sap. They trashed, polluted the lake, and they have used hand grenades and electric shock to kill our fish. They have depleted and driven extinction to some of our fish species and destroyed of their habitats.

Third, is the forestry. Mr. Hun Sen had allowed the foreign logging companies to cut down of our precious trees and shipping them abroad and his high-ranking officials pocketed the money. Mr. Hun Sen has allowed the foreigners to slowly nibble away our vital natural resources (land, forest, and water) until they are depleted. Land, forest, and water are the heart and soul of our Khmer survival as a nation, and if allow this to continue, eventually, it would eradicate the whole Khmer nation.

In my political opinion, it would be foolish if President Sam Rainsy used his political platform to run for political office as a roadblock for other political parties. He has chosen to run for political office because he believes he has the knowledge, skills, ability, and political experience (national and international) to bring democracy to our people and our homeland. He wants a free and democratic Cambodia. He wants to plant the seeds our democracy in Cambodia and to help grow respect for human rights and dignity, so that each and every Cambodian citizen in this generations and the next, would have the opportunity to freely exercise their basic fundamental rights without fear of being persecuted. This has always been the top priority of his and it is of monumental importance for all of us. He believes the people have trusted in him, and in return, he wants to invest more in our people, in their economy, and in their future. He fights for Factory/Garment Workers to raise their wages. He makes sure that proper working conditions are met including adequate salary, benefits, and sick and vacation times. President Sam Rainsy advocates for our teachers. He demands raising their salaries, and provide continuing education and trainings for our teachers. President Sam Rainsy would ensure that every Cambodian child will receive an excellent education. Those that have graduated from college and universities would be sure to land a decent job. “No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.” Kofi Annan. More over, President Sam Rainsy fights for women rights. He advocates for equal opportunity for women in political office and corporations in Cambodia. Equally important, we are the agricultural nation; therefore, farmers are our backbones for our country. President Sam Rainsy would ensure that our farmers have adequate support and have all the resources including irrigation systems and equipments to work on their farmland and growing crops.

President Sam Rainsy has strong public policies on corruption, terrorism, human and drug trafficking, environmental concerns, illegal immigrants, and border issues. More importantly, President Sam Rainsy’s utmost goal, upon becoming Prime Minister, is to unify all Cambodian compatriots by embracing all of our Khmer people, living inside Cambodia and overseas to join forces in rebuilding our country.

The responsibility for alleviating the plight of our people and our homeland falls upon all members of our society. As individuals, all citizens have a duty to assist our homeland through acts of charity and personal commitment. We also carry the moral responsibility to assist and empower the people by working collectively through and with the government to establish just and effective public policies. But one crucial societal aspect remains to be clarified publicly by the Hun Sen Regime. If all members of our society are ready to lend a hand and take charge in sharing responsibility with the government so the whole nation can benefit and move forward, what has stopped the people from doing it? To answer the question, let’s we all closely examine the recent political message made by Mr. Hun Sen for the purpose of his political campaign. “If the people voted for the ruling party, CPP, there will be no war. The people don’t need to run for the trenches.” The statement is clearly point out that, in fact, Mr. Hun Sen is the main roadblock for our people and our country to move forward. Surprisingly, this is not an unusual message coming out from Mr. Hun Sen’s mouth. As a matter fact, this is an excellent example on how he and his regime have been able to continue to stay in power by using forces against his political opponents.

A new political message is therefore called for. It must begin with the age-old assumption that we are only as strong as our weakest link. It asseverates that the judgment of our society will depend not on how it treats its most powerful, privileged, and wealthy, but rather on how its treat its most vulnerable. It will invoke a spirit of cooperation, rather than one of greed. And it will place the concern and needs of every Khmer, rather than those of corrupted groups, at the top of the government. If we can begin to move the country toward such a political message, I envision a dramatic positive change of our Khmer nation.

Coming this July, I plead with all my heart to all of our Khmer people living in all 22 provinces to carefully consider about making a final decision before you casting your vote. Your vote should match with the most qualify candidate, whom you think will be the next Prime Minister that can lead our people and our country to a brighter future. I totally understand the struggles your family and you are going through each day. But it is the important moment that each and every one of you must make a wise decision. It is not about a bag of salt and/or a bag of sugar, one Sarong and/or one Kroma, one cow here and one chicken there, in exchange for your vote. It is about your vote, and your vote is your voice. Your voice is for you and your children’s future. And your future will be depending on the liberty and freedom that you will have.

I am very confident with President Sam Rainsy. He is genuine and a man of moral integrity. He is a charismatic leader. President Sam Rainsy is the right man, for the right time, and for the right reasons for our people and our homeland. Please vote for President Sam Rainsy for the next Prime Minister!

Thank you for reading.

Som Preah Chea Mchas Chouy Bom Pleu Plov Aoy Koun Khmer Yoeung Krup Knea Ning Brotest Cheat Yoeung Tov Rok Ana Kut Dor Roung Roeung!

Wishes for the Year of the Rat 2552 From the Cambodia's Border Committee

WISHES FOR THE YEAR OF THE RAT 2552

Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Beloved Compatriots,

In comparison of the previous years, the past Year of the Pig in Cambodia was one of serious power abuse and human rights violations, as well as the violations of our citizens’ rights, in addition to the violent repressions perpetrated by public and private powerful figures, especially in the provinces. The powerful rulers of Cambodia totally ignore the lamenting, and the distress and despair calls by their constituents broadcasted daily on radio stations and published on newspapers. The “Super Great and Very Powerful Commander-in-chief” (Aka Moha Senapadei Decho) Hun Sen turned out to be weak when it comes to putting an end to the anarchic deforestation, the land confiscations from farmers, the corruption of the civilian, legal and military administrations, as well as to all kinds of financial and economic speculations. On the other hand, the “Very Powerful” Prime Minister heroically fought against Mr. Yash Ghai, the UN Special Envoy on Human Rights in Cambodia, and he even refused the entry of the latter into the kingdom for denouncing the misery and the fear instilled on ordinary citizens and the despicable human rights situation in Cambodia. Mr. Hun Sen’s staunch lieutenants even planned on getting rid of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Phnom Penh as well. This is a clear warning against all citizens who still dream of freedom. For the past five years, everything was done to prevent any public political gathering and street demonstrations, soon all strikes will also be prevented … as the regime needs “order and stability for its development.”

Mr. Hun Sen now has a solid alibi: he has to protect the economic growth for “the development and the poverty reduction.” He negotiates all by himself and in dark “secrecy,” economic contracts without any public bidding, without publication, and without the agreement from the Parliament. He grants “concessions” – so as not to call them “sales” of national territories – that are outrageously larger than allowed by the law to foreigners who have the right to do whatever they want without any economic, social and human considerations, for the extraordinary durations of 50, 70 or even 99-year. In effect, since “the growth” started, sumptuous palaces and villas belonging to relatives and friends of Mr. Hun Sen’s family are sprouting like mushrooms in Phnom Penh and in large Cambodian cities. Furthermore, the prime minister said that he is “very proud” that his regime knows how to push up exponentially the price of lands in the capital and elsewhere. Undoubtedly, he is also “very proud” that he could churn out million of new slaves to serve the newly rich. These new slaves are Khmer people who barely survive with $0.50, $1 or barely $2 of earning per day and, for many years, have extreme difficulties to find jobs, to feed themselves, to obtain healthcare, to pay for their children tuitions, and the meager support they obtained came mainly from foreign charity. For the past few years, the billions of revenues from Pailin precious gems, from precious woods from Kampong Thom forests, from fish catch from the Tonle Sap, from Battambang rice, from Siem Reap tourism … in addition to the other billions in international aid, where did all these billions go that they could not reduce somewhat the misery of Khmer farmers and workers?

We have seen them all these boasted economic growth and development that are “paid for” mainly through the pillaging and sellout of national resources, through the deprivations forced upon the population, through the concessions-sales of lands and islands to foreign interests, and through the plundering of state wealth as well as the farmers’ properties. The “excellent” economic growth did not stop the worsening of the social situation (public healthcare, education, human trafficking, …), the continued rise of joblessness and the non-stop increase in the price of basic goods (rice, fish, vegetables, salt, etc…) created by a soaring inflation that comes hand in hand with the flare-up of land prices. However, to exculpate himself from the inflation and the economic crisis which he initiated, Mr. Hun Sen now puts the entire responsibility on “dishonest merchants,” and other ills, such as the international increase of oil price, the cost of transportation and raw materials, all of which are additional burdens borne by the poor and the hungry people.

The social situation in the New Year of the Rat could be untenable and become explosive. But, as usual, to protect his “development,” Mr. Hun Sen and his cronies have to resort to punctual demagogic measures and to usual lies, as well as intimidations and violent repressions against “economic saboteurs” already identified. Already, in order to “provide freedom, legitimacy and justice for the upcoming elections,” and the preservation of the CPP dictatorship, Mr. Hok Lundy, the national police commissioner, plans to deploy, under his commandment, “police officers, military police officers, the infantry, the air force and the navy of the entire country.” And if this is not enough, Mr. Tea Banh, the minister of Defense, will also make appeal to the Vietnamese troops of “volunteers” to the rescue. This is the logic “of stability and development in Cambodia, … which are inseparable from the tight cooperation with Vietnam,” as Mr. Sok An announced last December…

The impossible-to-reform government system thus set up will follow its course, “irreversibly.” The people must find their salvation on their own. The Cambodia’s Border Committee very sincerely and profoundly wishes that the Tevoda of the New Year of the Rat will show the divine path to all Khmer People so that they can benefit from the peace, prosperity and happiness which they had waited for so long until now.

Long Life the Khmer People!

Done in Paris, April 13, 2008

The Cambodia’s Border Committee in France and Worldwide,

Dy Kareth
Vice-President

Click here for additional information about CBC/CFC

Khmer Mchas Srok Movement to hold a conference on Cambodia’s problems

15 March 2008
By Moeung Tum
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

The Khmer Mchas Srok Movement (KMS) will organize a new conference focusing on the major problems faced by the current Cambodian society.

Dr. Chak Sakhon, KMS General Delegate, told RFA this Saturday that her movement will organize a conference at the Church of the Nazarene in Minnesota, USA, between 22 and 26 March 2008.

Dr. Chak Sakhon said: “In the name of the Khmer Mchas Srok, our compatriots in Minnesota will organize a conference to provide information about the various problems in Cambodia that is facing with threats from rights violation on the people, land-grabbing by powerful (government officials) people. In particular, prior to the election, our compatriots must make the right decision before voting in July 2008. Our compatriots must think hard about these issues, and they must understand the various problems that are occurring in Cambodia nowadays.”

This conference will also focus on the formation of a new office branch of the KMSM in Minnesota. The KMSM indicated that it is not a political party, but it is a national unification movement, formed by expatriate Cambodian people to serve the interest of all the Cambodian people.

Dr. Chak Sakhon also indicated about the activities conducted by the KMSM: “In our first step, we are only making the public aware of the various problems faced by Cambodia, so that our Cambodian compatriots understand them clearly about the current Cambodian affairs, such as the poverty problem, the corruption problem, the lack of social justice problem, the human rights problems. What I want all Cambodian people to know is where we are right now, in 2008. Will Cambodians fare well in the future or not, or will we lose our identity and become just a simple Indochinese? During this month, the KMSM issued two statements, the first one about Cambodians in Long Beach setting up Cambodia Town, we asked that Cambodian people overseas unite with each others to strongly preserve our identity, because inside Cambodia, it is not certain that the Cambodian identity will be preserved, maybe in the near future, we will have the Indochinese citizenship and we will be ruled by Vietnam. Therefore, we are very concerned about this issue. Secondly, we also issued a statement about the conference held on the 28 (of February) in Sihanoukville (between Cambodia and Vietnam), we are very concerned about this conference because the (Hun Sen) Cambodian government signed several treaties and sub-treaties, and we are concerned about the usefulness of these treaties, what will Cambodian people benefit from them? Maybe they are concluded only to put to an end of our Cambodian identity and turn us into Indochinese placed under the yoke of the Vietnamese? Therefore, on all these issues, we want our compatriots to understand that the Cambodian people are walking towards an abyss, if they take another step they will fall into the abyss, shouldn’t they pull back?”

The KMS was formed October 2006, it is based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and it has several other branches in other US states, as well as in other countries, such as France and Australia.