The Ministry of Interior has issued a scathing condemnation of Thailand’s Sa Kaeo provincial administration and the Thai armed forces for their continued encroachment on Cambodian sovereign territory and the mistreatment of Cambodian citizens.
The ministry spokesperson unit noted that the latest Thai incursion —in Banteay Meanchey’s Prey Chan village, in O Beichoan commune, Ou Chrov district, on October 10 — has caused deep concerns and sparked outrage both domestically and internationally, including among some conscientious Thai citizens.
Thai soldiers used armoured bulldozers to clear rice fields in Prey Chan. The soldiers had previously erected razor wire barricades to prevent Cambodian villagers from accessing their fields, as well as at least six homes.
Their actions were described as serious misconduct which violated international law and treaties, and should never haven occurred within ASEAN or anywhere else in the world.
The ministry said the “brazen and continuous” actions of the Sa Kaeo administration and the Thai military constitute a violation of the principle of ownership under international law, which requires determining ownership first.
“The area that was encroached upon has been clearly under the occupation, residence and cultivation of Cambodian citizens for generations, dating back to the Franco-Siamese Treaties of 1904 and 1907,” said the statement.
“According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Thailand’s actions fall within the elements of crimes against humanity, specifically persecution and forcible deportation, which are part of a systematic attack directed against the civilian population.
Furthermore, the issuance of ultimatums, the threat of arrest, the prevention of cultivation on the land, the past encirclement of homes, coupled with the use of machinery to bulldoze the land, and the application of Thai martial law on Cambodian sovereignty, regardless of the justification, are all acts of crimes against humanity,” it added.
It noted that the declaration of a border line based on unilateral territorial expansion is unacceptable, describing this as a crime of aggression.
The ministry requested the Thai authorities to immediately cease all such activities, and abandon what appear to be systematic plans to destroy the ceasefire that both parties and their foreign partners painstakingly helped to establish.
“Stop the ambition to invade the territory of a neighbouring country, including the persecution of Cambodian citizens living along the border! Stop the repetition of attempts to divert domestic and international public opinion from noticing your own chaos and division by instigating conflict with a neighbouring country,” it said.
It appealed to the international community to pay close attention to the situation and support the implementation of international law in order to maintain peace, stability and mutual respect for sovereignty between Cambodia and Thailand.
