Svay Rieng Villagers concerned about losing their rice fields from border demarcation

Chantrea district villager talking to RFA about the loss of their land to Vietnam (Photo: Uon Chhin, RFA)

16 Nov 2009
By Uon Chhin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Villagers from Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, expressed their renewed concerns about losing their rice fields due to the border demarcation between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Numerous villagers from Koh Kban village, Samrong commune, Chantrea province, indicated that government officials, including the Chantrea district governor, summoned about 30 villagers to a meeting on Sunday 15 November. This summon heightened the villagers’ concerns because these officials told them that they should bear with the situation until a resolution comes from the government.

39-year-old Meas Srey, who was summoned to the meeting, indicated that she is now even more concerned and she has lost all hope after listening to all these government officials.

Meas Srey said: “They [govt officials] kept on telling us to work on it so the organization [govt] resolves this issue for us. They told us to prepare a lawsuit file, I said: how can I sue? I complained for 16 months already, but nobody even came to talk to the villagers. When the villagers are rising up, then they call us to this meeting, the villagers do not agree with this. That is why I am very saddened, now I don’t know where to go!”

38-yearold Neang Phally expressed her puzzlement over the issue raised by the government officials regarding the responsibility of opposition leader Sam Rainsy for his decision to pull out border posts on 25 October.

Neang Phally said: “They [govt officials] told us: Don’t rely on Mr. Sam Rainsy too much, when he pulled them [border posts] out, he claimed to take charge of them, but now he is no longer doing that, he asked not to be involved with it. That’s what they told us, is it true?”

Chea Yeang, the Chantrea district governor, recognized that a meeting was held with the villagers, but he declined to comment about the authority summoning the villagers in regards to the planting of border posts between Cambodia and Vietnam.

Rong Chhun, President of the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Associaton (CITA), said that the concerns of villagers living along the Vietnamese borders are issues that the government must reflect about.

Rong Chhun said: “It’s not just because the Yuon authority has reacted a little bit for [the Cambodian govt] to charge their own villagers and MP as it is right now. This shows that our government is involved [in this encroachment] or that it is a puppet of our neighbor.”

On 25 October, opposition leader Sam Rainsy led a Kathen procession to the Wat Ang Romdenh Pagoda located along the border with Vietnam. After listening to the villagers complaining about the losses of their rice field lands, Sam Rainsy and about 100 villagers went over to pull out 6 stakes marking a post delimiting the border between Cambodia and Vietnam. These stakes are planted in the middle of a rice field belonging to a Cambodian farmer. Following this event, Sam Rainsy was sued and the National Assembly was asked to lift his parliamentary immunity.