Wednesday, 15 December 2010 15:01 May Titthara
PHNOM Penh Municipality announced on Monday via its website that land reclaiming and grabbing in the Boeung Trabek lake area was prohibited, and that the city’s court system would punish any known perpetrators.
“In [the] case of illegal land grabbing, land reclaiming or any illegal construction into this reservoir system, Phnom Penh Capital Hall will take such a case as ... violence into the state’s public property and the case
would be brought to the court in accordance with Articles 259 and 260 of [the] Land Law (offenders will be fined or imprisoned),” the statement read.
The statement added that perpetrators would have
to move away from the area without any rights or claims for personal construction expenses.
The municipality statement followed a protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Phnom Penh home last week, during which Boeung Trabek residents alleged the loss of farmland due to a drainage project.
Residents said that 153 families were displaced as a result of ongoing canal construction. Many have also expressed concern that the land would be given to a private developer, rather than being used for a drainage project.
“I want everything to be transparent,” said Oen Sothon, a village representative from Chamkarmon district’s Phsar Doeum Thkov commune. “I am waiting to see whether they dare to damage these houses or not.”
Kep Chuktema, governor of Phnom Penh, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Last week, Chamkarmon district governor Lo Yuy said “If I fill the lake with sand and keep the land titles for government officials, please let lightning strike me”.
Ouch Leng, land programme officer at rights group Adhoc, said even if the Boeung Trabek lakeside was state land, the residents “should have some compensation because they’ve lived there [for] a long time”.
In a related case, about 500 families from Pshar Doeum Thkov in September were to dismantle their homes for the reservoir system refurbishment, though the deadline for their eviction passed without incident.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Thai-Cambodian ties back on track (minus Thaksin)
The improved ties were reiterated in Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's remarks in an interview with the media on Dec 6, that the two countries' relationship had "returned to normal". His statement signals a good gesture for the two sides to foster good ties once again.
And it has come at the right time, as the two countries will be celebrating six decades of diplomatic relations this Sunday in Phnom Penh. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will represent Thailand at the celebrations in the Cambodian capital. Improved ties are what people of both countries would definitely like to see. But Thailand and Cambodia still have sensitive issues to work out. These include the border demarcation and the stalled development plan for Preah Vihear temple. These two problems remain unresolved.
The Hindu temple was listed as a World Heritage site in 2008 but the development plan was blocked by Thailand at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil this year, as Bangkok wanted first to resolve the issue of overlapping boundaries around the temple.
The next WHC meeting is scheduled for June next year in Bahrain. From now until the Bahrain meeting, the two leaders have to continue a dialogue to find a compromise solution on the issue.
In order not to let the issue damage improving ties, both Thai and Cambodian leaders should separate their diplomatic relationship from the border problems.
A good example of this is how Thailand and Laos handles their relationship. Bangkok and Vientiane enjoy good diplomatic relations and various cooperation while leaving the border demarcation to the Thai-Lao Joint Boundary Commission to handle. Border problems are normally very sensitive and take time to resolve.
What made ties between Thailand and Cambodia more complicated was the issue of the ousted former prime minister, who has close personal ties with the Cambodian premier.
The relationship between the two countries worsened after Thaksin was appointed as economic adviser to the Cambodian government in November last year. Bangkok recalled Thai ambassador to Phnom Penh Prasas Prasasvinitchai and Cambodia reacted in the same manner.
However, relations improved after Thaksin resigned from the position on Aug 23 this year, and the Thai government resumed the normalisation of diplomatic relations the very next day. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Mr Hun Sen have met four times at international meetings, and this has helped improve relations between the two.
Thailand uses the same strategy it pursues with Laos, for Cambodia.
Direction-general of the East Asian Affairs Department, Pasakorn Siriyaphan, said the Foreign Ministry maintains good relations with Cambodia and lets the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission tackle the border problem.
Cambodia now understands the legal procedure in Thailand, which cannot move forward the border demarcation as the three memoranda of understanding on the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission have not been approved by parliament, he added.
"It is a good sign that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has understood Prime Minister Abhisit's explanation that Thailand has its own internal process," Mr Pasakorn said.
Under Section 190 of the constitution, the three documents need parliament's approval first to give Thai officials the mandate to negotiate with their Cambodian counterparts on the demarcation issue. The matter has been put on parliament's agenda four times but still has not got anywhere.
For Cambodia, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told the Bangkok Post that Phnom Penh will not raise the temple issue for the time being and has rather placed its attention on how to strengthen bilateral relations. "We can drop the Preah Vihear temple issue and focus on how to improve mutual understanding between our two nations," Mr Khieu Kanharith said.
But the temple issue still remains a time bomb awaiting challenges from the two countries.
A government source said if Cambodia still proposes its management plan to the WHC, Thailand will keep opposing it because the plan involves some area over which the two countries claim ownership and the issue of sovereignty has not been settled. "We don't know if Cambodia will bring up the Preah Vihear issue again because its next local elections are scheduled for 2012. If the two countries can settle this problem diplomatically and do not let it become a political issue, that will be good," the same source said.
Mr Pasakorn said one thing the two countries will have to eliminate is the feeling of hatred which many Cambodians harbour towards Thais. "We are doing it all [to create better understanding between Thais and Cambodians] and I think things are moving along the right track," Mr Pasakorn said.
And it has come at the right time, as the two countries will be celebrating six decades of diplomatic relations this Sunday in Phnom Penh. Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya will represent Thailand at the celebrations in the Cambodian capital. Improved ties are what people of both countries would definitely like to see. But Thailand and Cambodia still have sensitive issues to work out. These include the border demarcation and the stalled development plan for Preah Vihear temple. These two problems remain unresolved.
The Hindu temple was listed as a World Heritage site in 2008 but the development plan was blocked by Thailand at the World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil this year, as Bangkok wanted first to resolve the issue of overlapping boundaries around the temple.
The next WHC meeting is scheduled for June next year in Bahrain. From now until the Bahrain meeting, the two leaders have to continue a dialogue to find a compromise solution on the issue.
In order not to let the issue damage improving ties, both Thai and Cambodian leaders should separate their diplomatic relationship from the border problems.
A good example of this is how Thailand and Laos handles their relationship. Bangkok and Vientiane enjoy good diplomatic relations and various cooperation while leaving the border demarcation to the Thai-Lao Joint Boundary Commission to handle. Border problems are normally very sensitive and take time to resolve.
What made ties between Thailand and Cambodia more complicated was the issue of the ousted former prime minister, who has close personal ties with the Cambodian premier.
The relationship between the two countries worsened after Thaksin was appointed as economic adviser to the Cambodian government in November last year. Bangkok recalled Thai ambassador to Phnom Penh Prasas Prasasvinitchai and Cambodia reacted in the same manner.
However, relations improved after Thaksin resigned from the position on Aug 23 this year, and the Thai government resumed the normalisation of diplomatic relations the very next day. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Mr Hun Sen have met four times at international meetings, and this has helped improve relations between the two.
Thailand uses the same strategy it pursues with Laos, for Cambodia.
Direction-general of the East Asian Affairs Department, Pasakorn Siriyaphan, said the Foreign Ministry maintains good relations with Cambodia and lets the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission tackle the border problem.
Cambodia now understands the legal procedure in Thailand, which cannot move forward the border demarcation as the three memoranda of understanding on the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission have not been approved by parliament, he added.
"It is a good sign that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has understood Prime Minister Abhisit's explanation that Thailand has its own internal process," Mr Pasakorn said.
Under Section 190 of the constitution, the three documents need parliament's approval first to give Thai officials the mandate to negotiate with their Cambodian counterparts on the demarcation issue. The matter has been put on parliament's agenda four times but still has not got anywhere.
For Cambodia, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told the Bangkok Post that Phnom Penh will not raise the temple issue for the time being and has rather placed its attention on how to strengthen bilateral relations. "We can drop the Preah Vihear temple issue and focus on how to improve mutual understanding between our two nations," Mr Khieu Kanharith said.
But the temple issue still remains a time bomb awaiting challenges from the two countries.
A government source said if Cambodia still proposes its management plan to the WHC, Thailand will keep opposing it because the plan involves some area over which the two countries claim ownership and the issue of sovereignty has not been settled. "We don't know if Cambodia will bring up the Preah Vihear issue again because its next local elections are scheduled for 2012. If the two countries can settle this problem diplomatically and do not let it become a political issue, that will be good," the same source said.
Mr Pasakorn said one thing the two countries will have to eliminate is the feeling of hatred which many Cambodians harbour towards Thais. "We are doing it all [to create better understanding between Thais and Cambodians] and I think things are moving along the right track," Mr Pasakorn said.
Refugee centre closure linked to Vietnam PM
A local rights group has linked the upcoming closure of a United Nations-administered refugee centre in Phnom Penh to the visit of a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to Cambodia last month.
The site, in Sen Sok district, now houses about 76 refugees and asylum seekers from Vietnam – members of highland ethnic minorities that rights groups say face ethnic and religious persecution by the Vietnamese government.
On November 29, the government wrote to the local office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to inform the agency that it would close the site on January 1.
The letter called on UNHCR to speed up the resettlement of 62 registered Montagnard refugees at the site, but said any unregistered asylum seekers – officials say there are “more than 10” – would be deported to Vietnam upon the centre’s closure.
In a statement yesterday, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights said the decision to close the Sen Sok site on January 1 was “further evidence that the treatment of political refugees in Cambodia is secondary to the [government’s] political and economic prerogatives”.
CCHR compared the case to the government’s forcible deportation of 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China in December last year, which it linked to the prior announcement of a US$1.2 billion Chinese aid-and-loans package.
Similarly, it added, “the decision to close the centre and to repatriate the Montagnards comes a month after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led a high-ranking delegation to Cambodia”. Dung made a three-day visit to Cambodia on November 14.
CCHR called on the government to refrain from putting human lives in peril “in exchange for political capital and financial gain”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong rejected the claim. “No one has influence on Cambodia’s policy. We decided to close it down on our own,” he said.
The site, in Sen Sok district, now houses about 76 refugees and asylum seekers from Vietnam – members of highland ethnic minorities that rights groups say face ethnic and religious persecution by the Vietnamese government.
On November 29, the government wrote to the local office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to inform the agency that it would close the site on January 1.
The letter called on UNHCR to speed up the resettlement of 62 registered Montagnard refugees at the site, but said any unregistered asylum seekers – officials say there are “more than 10” – would be deported to Vietnam upon the centre’s closure.
In a statement yesterday, the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights said the decision to close the Sen Sok site on January 1 was “further evidence that the treatment of political refugees in Cambodia is secondary to the [government’s] political and economic prerogatives”.
CCHR compared the case to the government’s forcible deportation of 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China in December last year, which it linked to the prior announcement of a US$1.2 billion Chinese aid-and-loans package.
Similarly, it added, “the decision to close the centre and to repatriate the Montagnards comes a month after Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung led a high-ranking delegation to Cambodia”. Dung made a three-day visit to Cambodia on November 14.
CCHR called on the government to refrain from putting human lives in peril “in exchange for political capital and financial gain”.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong rejected the claim. “No one has influence on Cambodia’s policy. We decided to close it down on our own,” he said.
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