A New Chapter of Betrayal Is Being Written in Our History

26 June 2012
Op-Ed by Khmer Academy

No stability, social development or economic progress can justify the loss of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. To believe otherwise is to succumb to treason, a misdeed that my conscience, and I trust yours too, can neither accept nor allow.

Our country is presently going through another dark moment of its history as we witness a new chapter of betrayal is being written. The authority has recently admitted that several villages, including the birth place of H.E. Heng Samrin, the current Chairman of the National Assembly, will be ceded as part of the Eastern border demarcation process. This is totally in contrast to what it has said, and unjustly prosecuted those who disagreed, for years that not a single millimeter of our lands would be lost.

The authority, with its justification, wants us to believe that due to the different accuracies found in maps with different scales, some adjustments along the border have to be made, thus unavoidably resulting in some villages on both sides being swapped. If that is really the case, why so far only villages on our side but none on the other side have been identified to the public? It is incomprehensible and unacceptable that the alleged errors and map inaccuracies only occur on our side. How can a village where the Chairman of the National Assembly and his siblings before him were born, raised and farmed belong to another country? Note that on the 6th of August 1966, Hanoi declared: "Thlok Trach village [is] on Cambodian territory". Why is it no longer the case?

Several other central questions with regard to the entire border demarcation process remain unanswered. The complete lack of transparency and public consultation since the beginning of the process only confirms the suspicion by some and allegation by others that our lands are being ceded to the neighbor, illegally and deliberately.

It is evident that the Eastern border demarcation constitutes an application of the so-called 1982 and 1985 treaties which were signed when our country was officially recognized by the U.N. as under occupation. As such, the entire demarcation and the treaties which form its basis are flaw; they are not only in violation of our sovereignty and constitution, but also in contrary to the known international laws.

Apparently, a number of high ranking officials tacitly recognize the loss of lands in the demarcation but are misled and in some cases forced to accept the loss as a necessary compromise in order to establish a permanent boundary and preserve the remaining of the country. It is a mistake of historical proportions to assume that border conflicts can be resolved through a one-time land concession. Our past experiences have repeatedly taught us not to naively rely on treaties, physical fences or border posts to safeguard our country from the expansionists. Those treaties or border posts give us nothing but a false sense of security because the expansionists never have, and never will, the intention to respect our sovereignty. They always come back for more, taking our lands village by village until nothing left of our country.

It is both heartbreaking and utterly appalling that while the parliament of our neighbour solemnly and unilaterally adopted a law placing the disputed Spratly and Paracel islands under the sovereignty of its country, our parliament did just the opposite for our villages – stripping off the immunity of its members who dare to courageously stand up for the motherland.

Fellow compatriots, I dare you to break your silence. Our collective silence and inaction make us all an accomplice of this betrayal. We can’t pretend there is no problem or walk away from it. Nor can we consciously contend with the usual inexcusable excuse: “I can’t hold the country alone”. No one can, and no one is being asked to hold the country alone; but everyone is duty bound to stand up and do the right thing for the motherland, for our children and the children of our children so that they can have a place to call home. Those who threaten us with the use of force or violence will only bring violence upon themselves.

No one is expected to carry the burden alone. The burden must and will be shared by all citizens. Those who stand up and speak out will inspire others. Beloved compatriots, we are the master of our own destiny; believe in it, embrace it and you won’t be disappointed. We hold the key to our future. We can unlock and free ourselves from the shackles of expansionism. Together, step-by-step we will overcome the obstacles and prevail. Remember, we are not in this alone. The outside world, especially “the enemy of our enemy”, is watching and willing to help our cause, but we have to take the first step and prove to them that we’re worth helping.

No stability, social development or economic progress can justify the loss of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. To believe otherwise is to succumb to treason, a misdeed that my conscience, and I trust yours too, can neither accept nor allow.

Khmer Academy