Border Markers Post in Local Farmland in Takeo

On May 25, 2010 nine families protested against the border demarcation, which was planted onto their rice field. This caused them to lose their land, which they claimed to have done agricultural activities since 1983-84.

A villager, who was one of the above 9 family victims and asked for anonymous condition, reported that in the above due date, Vietnamese authorities came to pull out the former poll and replaced by a stone one. In addition those authorities had put Vietnamese flag there.

Even though, so far, there has been no same reaction from Cambodian government; especially from Prime Minister Hun Sen, to this issue as it has taken place to that with Thailand. In contrast, the Cambodian authorities – communal, district and provincial – prohibited those affected villagers from visiting the border marker 270, entering their farmland to do agricultural activity and protesting against the demarcation. Furthermore those authorities warned they would arrest them and send to jail in case any villagers were courageous enough to demonstrate over the matter.

Ket Sokun, another victim said the marker was stood on his 4-hectare plot of land, which he had grown rice since 1984. Another one Khem Pak echoed the same issue that he possessed 2 hectares of land and had been farming since 1983. And the other Keo Kim stated he had lived there since 1984. These victims claimed they would lose their land because local authorities had ordered residents not to protest against the demarcation; otherwise they would send us to prison.

On May 27, 2010 some lawmakers from Sam Rainsy Party sent a letter of National Assembly President Heng Samrin in order to propose Prime Minister Hun Sen to suspend the process of planting border marker 270 because it would eat into villagers’ rice field and Cambodian territory.

However, Mr. Soeun Sotheany, the president of Cambodian Land Border Demarcation 4 denied the allegation of the above opposition parliamentarians that the marker 270 had posted in residents’ farmland and invaded Cambodian territorial integrity. Stressed on this issue, Mr. Va Kim Hong, State of Minister, who is also responsible for border affairs, accused those lawmakers of interfering in the affairs of those border experts. He added that border marker 270 did not affect those villagers in Borei Chulsa district for the area was not rice field, but it was only the field of grass. Anyway the government has not issued land titles to them yet since the site is not so clear that it belongs to Cambodia or Vietnam.

However, those opposition lawmakers criticized that authorities had seriously violated human rights; particularly freedom of expression in addition to the loss of residents’ land.