PHNOM PENH
(Xinhua) - After a brief meeting with Cambodia's foreign minister on Monday, Surin Pitsuwan, secretary general of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said he hoped a border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand will "end peacefully".
Surin Pitsuwan made nearly an hour-meeting on Monday with Hor Namhong, Cambodia's deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation and soon after the meeting he told reporters that he hoped the border dispute will "end peacefully."
Surin is leading a 30-member delegation of Muslim people to Cambodia for strengthening relations and to attend an ASEAN forum on disaster management, while at the same time, he takes the opportunities to meet with Cambodian leaders, according to Koy Kuong, spokesman of Foreign Ministry.
Koy Kuong said Surin will later in the day meet with Prime Minister Hun Sen before he will leave the country on Tuesday.
Surin arrived in Cambodia on Sunday.
Hor Namhong told reporters after the meeting with Sorin that Cambodia is committed to solve the border problem peacefully, but reserves its right to protect its own territory once invades by a foreign country.
The border conflict came just one week after Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple was registered as World Heritage Site in July 2008.
Last Saturday, Hor Namhong sent a letter to Pham Gia Khiem, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam, who is the current chair of ASEAN to mediate Cambodia's border dispute with Thailand.
In his letter, Hor said "until now, Cambodia has exercised utmost restrain and attempted to find a peaceful solution to the problem bilaterally, but to no avail."
"As the current stalemate has extinguished any hope on further bilateral negotiations and in order to avoid any large scale armed conflict..., I earnestly seek Your Excellency's assistance, as chair of ASEAN, to mediate on the matter under the ASEAN framework ... ," Hor said.
The Cambodia-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, and Thailand continues to stake territorial claims of the 4.6 square kilometer area in the vicinity of the Temple of Preah Vihear.
Cambodia insisted the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, citing the adjudication of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on June 15, 1962.
ASEAN groups 10 countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Monday, August 16, 2010
ASEAN secretary general hopes Cambodia-Thai border dispute to peacefully end
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Cambodia's drug rehab system decried
By BRENDAN BRADY AND MARK MAGNIER - Los Angeles Times
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- He meanders through a city park with friends, sniffing glue out of a plastic bag. Many nights he passes out on the sidewalk nearby.
It's a bleak routine, but this 17-year-old prefers it to his stints at Choam Chao, one of the Cambodian government's controversial drug rehabilitation centers, where he was twice detained.
"At night, when they got drunk, sometimes they'd beat me," he said, referring to older detainees deputized by the guards to enforce discipline. His tormentors were rewarded, he said, with occasional trips out of the center's compound, when they could buy their liquor.
"When I stopped doing the (enforced physical) exercises, they'd kick me in the stomach," said the teenager, who, along with other former detainees, requested anonymity because he feared official retribution.
Although his account could not be independently verified, it is consistent with what human rights groups and other detainees say is a widespread pattern of unlawful detention in Cambodia that masquerades as rehabilitation. Those unfortunate enough to be unwillingly caught inside this harsh system are often subject to physical and emotional abuse and deprivation.
The teenager said he started using drugs at age 8, soon after his father died. He lived for a few years with his mother, who scraped by scavenging garbage, then struck out on his own, earning money watching parked cars for tips.
His first "rehabilitation" detention, at age 11, lasted six months after he was picked up in a police sweep of his neighborhood. That was followed, at age 13, by 21/2 years of incarceration, during which guards and their stooges attacked him with braided electrical wire and belt buckles. He said he was never officially charged with any crime or allowed to see a lawyer.
The teen, who said he has lost touch with his mother, said the only pretense of therapy while in detention was an occasional medical checkup, by officials from a visiting charity, and three hours of daily military drills designed to "sweat out" the drugs. New arrivals suffering severe withdrawal symptoms were lashed down to their beds at night, he added.
Civic groups said the boy's account is hardly unusual.
"Human rights abuses are intrinsic to how these centers operate," said Joe Amon, a New York-based director of Human Rights Watch, which has released a report on the issue. "Arduous physical exercise and military drills appeared to be happening everywhere, as were beatings and whippings by center staff or detainees ... for disciplinary purposes."
The watchdog group characterized this approach to supposed rehabilitation as "sadistic," adding that wholesale detention of drug users, homeless people, sex workers and beggars in holding centers out of public view is common, with street sweeps occurring especially before holidays and visits by foreign dignitaries.
"This practice takes its roots from (Cambodian) history," said Mathieu Pellerin, a consultant with Licadho, a Cambodian human rights group that has campaigned against forced detentions. "It's very deep in their DNA. To this day, the government denies that it's unlawful detention."
In mid-2008, Pellerin got word of a wholesale roundup of "undesirables." He went with a team to a government detention center, where he found the director drunk.
A member of his team lured the official aside as others went inside and photographed the dire conditions being endured by entire families, the mentally disabled, epilepsy patients without medicine and pregnant women who were hauled off the street by police and government workers, most without their family's knowledge.
When Pellerin and his team presented their evidence to the government, he said, officials denied wrongdoing and said the disclosures were politically motivated.
Human Rights Watch said it has also received reports of police and Social Affairs Ministry officials making money by leasing out detainees as laborers or selling their "donated" blood.
The so-called rehabilitation system's real aims appear to be social control, profit and retribution for perceived moral failure, watchdog groups said. More than 2,000 people were detained in 11 Cambodian facilities nationwide in 2008, the vast majority involuntarily. For drug users put through the state rehabilitation system, the relapse rate was nearly 100 percent, according to one World Health Organization report.
Pellerin blames the Cambodian government for the alleged abuses, but he also points a finger at United Nations agencies and countries that donate aid but don't use their money or leverage to force change.
"Donors seem unwilling to draw conclusions that should be drawn after two decades," he said. "Maybe they don't want to admit their own failure."
Cambodian authorities have denied the charges of abuse. At an anti-narcotics conference in March, Prime Minister Hun Sen acknowledged that the centers were not "medically appropriate," but he accused human rights groups of "blindly attack(ing) without seeing the government's charity."
Drug users should appreciate the food, shelter and training they receive, Cambodian officials say. Although some facilities may be substandard, they add, that only reflects the limited resources of a nation still recovering from decades of war.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime is discussing a $9.7 million project to create voluntary, community-level drug rehabilitation in Cambodia as an alternative to the government program.
"Research tells us empathy is key to the effectiveness of drug-dependence treatment," said Juana Tomas-Rossello, a drug treatment adviser with the office who is working on the plan.
Cambodia is not alone. China, the regional powerhouse, reportedly holds half a million drug abusers in compulsory rehabilitation at any given time, civic groups and academics said. Thailand, Laos and Vietnam have recently embraced or long resorted to compulsory detoxification and punitive detention amid concern over a recent, sharp rise in methamphetamine use.
Some former detainees in Cambodia note glimmers of humanity in the system. The 17-year-old glue sniffer was instructed in traditional drums and hair cutting. And a recently released 15-year-old said his term was "easy" and included English lessons, although he was forcibly detained without charges and saw others beaten.
The basic problem, say critics and detainees, is that Cambodia's system focuses more on punishment than rehabilitation.
"Those places will harden you," said a 22-year old former detainee, sipping moonshine in a vacant lot where he was preparing to spend the night.
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Saturday, August 14, 2010
Cambodia asks ASEAN to mediate border dispute with Thailand
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - The Cambodian government on Saturday asked the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to mediate Cambodia's border dispute with Thailand.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong on Saturday sent a letter to Pham Gia Khiem, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of Vietnam, who is the current chair of ASEAN.
In his letter, Hor said "until now, Cambodia has exercised utmost restrain and attempted to find a peaceful solution to the problem bilaterally, but to no avail."
"As the current stalemate has extinguished any hope on further bilateral negotiations and in order to avoid any large scale armed conflict..., I earnestly seek Your Excellency's assistance, as chair of ASEAN, to mediate on the matter under the ASEAN framework either as a whole or on an individual basis involving only certain ASEAN members, in line with the Principles of the ASEAN Charter, Article 2 (c) and (d)," Hor said.
Cambodia and Thailand got into border conflict just one week after Cambodia got the Temple of Preah Vihear registered as World Heritage Site in July 2008. The Cambodia-Thai border has never been fully demarcated, and Thailand continues to stake territorial claims of the 4.6 square kilometer area in the vicinity of the Temple of Preah Vihear.
Hor Namhong reiterated that the Temple of Preah Vihear is situated in territory under the sovereignty of Cambodia, citing the adjudication of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on June 15, 1962.
ASEAN groups 10 countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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Aurora Travel Releases Seat-in-Coach Tours in Vietnam and Cambodia
Reporting an increase of 150% in profit as compared to the same period last year regardless of the severe aftermath of the global economic crisis, Vietnam’s respected tour operator Aurora Travel just decided to keep on with its ongoing triumph by unveiling carefully tailored Seat-in-Coach Tours highlighting both Vietnam and Cambodia.
Hanoi, Vietnam, August 14, 2010 --(PR.com)-- While most of the other local tour operators and travel agents are still trying to recover from the consequences of the global economic crisis, which has been evidenced by the significant decrease in the number of international travelers the world over, the country’s prestigious tour operator Aurora Travel seems to be an exception. The company’s report saw an increase of 150% in profit in the first half of 2010 as compared to the same period last year. As a reward, it just moved to a new and better equipped office in the capital city of Hanoi in order to meet the increasing workload.
During the last 7 years of operations, the company has earned a solid reputation for organizing private customized tours to all the tourist destinations in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. However, it just released a number of Seat-in-Coach Join-in tours, firstly in Vietnam and Cambodia, as a response to the requirements of a considerable number of travelers who wish to grasp more opportunities to meet up and communicate with other fellow travelers – “It’s the major difference from our traditional private tours,” said Mrs. Mai Anh – Aurora’s General Director, at a press conference held in Hanoi last week.
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"By booking any of our 5 Seat-in-Coach Tours, travelers are expected to do almost nothing but sit back and enjoy the pleasures that the wondrous land of Vietnam and Cambodia has to offer by a fleet of modern, air-conditioned coaches, experience historic and cultural destinations with beautiful sightseeing opportunities; sit back and relax whilst we take you to Halong Bay, Hanoi, Sapa, Hoi An, Hue, Ho Chi Minh city, which are followed by the world renowned wats and landscapes of Cambodia where you can see breathtaking scenery, lakeside retreats, quaint coastal towns and taste a host of varied cuisine to suit all palates. Whatever you're after – whether it's a beach break, city escape or cultural experience – we're sure to have something for you to choose," Ms. Hoai Van – Aurora Travel’s Sales Manager, added.
In addition, these coach tours will also provide travelers with a flexible variety of accommodation options, perfect English speaking guide and impeccable catering service at each and entire length of the trip. Since the number of group members are limited and the tours are set for certain dates every month only, you are advised to contact Aurora Travel at tour@vietnamstay.com for reservations or visit its official website at http://www.vietnamstay.com for more details.
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Suthep: No order 'yet' from PM to discuss temple row with Cambodia
BANGKOK, Aug 14 -- Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Saturday that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has not yet ordered him to Cambodia to discuss ending the two countries’ disagreement regarding the ancient Preah Vihear.
Mr Suthep said he still had no details of the planned visited of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Cambodia during which the UN chief is expected to discuss the temple issue with Cambodian government leaders.
A report by the Associated Press from Phnom Penh on Thursday said that Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will raise the temple issue with Mr Ban during his official visit to Cambodia October 27-28.
Mr Hun Sen on Monday proposed an international conference to discuss the dispute “because the bilateral discussion is at an impasse now.”
The Thai government, however, opposes the idea as unnecessary because the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding, signed by the two governments, provides a sufficient framework for a solution.
Urging the Thai public to not pay much attention to Mr Hun Sen’s criticism of the Thai government, Mr Suthep said both countries are close neighbours and the Cambodian government could “say anything as long as it neither hurts Thai sovereignty nor its image”.
The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the 11th century temple belongs to Cambodia, and UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the status.
The latest problem arose when Thailand objected to Phnom Penh's submitting a management plan for the temple late last month to UNESCO’s World Heritage Commission (WHC). The agency decided on July 29 to defer the decision until it meets next year.
The two countries have been locked in a dispute over a 4.6 sq km patch of land near the cliff-top temple. (MCOT online news)
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Apache Junction man, 61, gets 10 years in child porn case
by Nathan Gonzalez
The Arizona Republic
An Apache Junction man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to transporting and possessing child pornography.
Mark Stephan Freitag, 61, pleaded guilty on April 14 and was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court on one count of transportation of child pornography and possessing child pornography, court documents state.
Freitag was initially arrested in Cambodia on May 18, 2008, after flying there from Arizona, court documents state. Cambodian National Police apprehended Freitag after "citizen complaints and victim reports" surfaced that he was engaging in sexual conduct with Cambodian boys.
"Freitag was interviewed and admitted that he was interested in and collected child pornography," court records state.
Witnesses and fellow tourists reported Freitag to Cambodian authorities after they saw him with four young boys aged 6 to 14 years old. One boy told authorities "Freitag had paid them for sex," which he did not deny, court documents state.
Authorities eventually were able to get Freitag back to the United States.
Freitag also admitted to downloading, collecting and saving child pornography, much of which was found downloaded to a computer inside an Apache Junction storage locker.
Freitag had 65 DVDs of child pornography in his possession when arrested by Cambodian police, court records show. In the storage locker, FBI investigators recovered 2,066 explicit images and 12 additional videos with children as young as 5 years old.
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Friday, August 13, 2010
Government Unveils Traffic Safety Initiative
The government has unveiled a new set of measures to decrease the number of deaths on Cambodian roads.
The National Road Safety Action Plan calls for better designed roads, better law enforcement, better treatment of accident victims and other measures aimed at lowering the fatality rate 30 percent, or about 4,700 lives, over the next 10 years.
Nearly 1,000 people died on the roads in the first six months of 2010. That number is an apparent increase from the total 1,700 deaths in all of 2009.
The plan, devised by a multi-agency road safety committee, calls for increased funding and the development of expertise in order to improve road safety.
Improved safety will require better infrastructure, better trained drivers and speed and traffic flow management, according to the plan, released earlier this week.
The plan also calls for improved major national roads and the training of engineers for road safety audits and other oversight. It will target major risks, including speeding, driving without a helmet, seatbelt or child restraint and drunk driving. It will also target overloaded vehicles and improve the reaction time for first responders.
Other strategies include public education, road safety curriculum in schools and universities and peer-to-peer education. Education campaigns will be linked to law enforcement initiatives.
Under the plan, the Ministry of Health hopes to strengthen national emergency medical services, including first aid, transport, capacity of hospitals, mechanisms to manage the system and integrated information systems. Physical rehabilitation of the victim post-crash will also become a feature in the plan.
Traffic legislation will also need updated for modern traffic conditions, and the laws must be better enforced, according to the plan. This will include better drivers licensing in a database linked between police and the judiciary.
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Ban to visit Cambodia
Hun Sen seeks talks over dispute
PRIME Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that he planned to discuss the Preah Vihear border dispute with Ban Ki-moon when the United Nations secretary general visited Phnom Penh later this year.
In remarks at a meeting on the protection of the Tonle Sap lake at the Ministry of Water Resources yesterday, the premier said that Ban Ki-moon would come to Cambodia for an official visit.
“I will talk [about the border dispute] with Ban Ki-moon on October 27-28 when he visits here,” Hun Sen said.
“I will seek a compromise from the UN representative.
“Thailand should not be afraid of international intervention … and if Thailand is afraid, it means Thailand does not have good intentions.
“Real gold is never afraid of fire.”
A statement from the Thai government’s public relations department on Wednesday said Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would meet Ban during
a trip to New York next month.
Abhisit planned to “clarify the Thai-Cambodian rift resulting from the registration of the Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site” and “discuss with Mr Ban an exit for the dispute”, the statement said.
Margaret Lamb, a spokeswoman for the UN in Phnom Penh, and Farhan Haq, an associate spokesman for the UN secretary general in New York, said they could not confirm Ban’s visit to Cambodia.
Thai ministry of foreign affairs deputy spokesman Thani Thongphakdi said yesterday that Thailand’s position on the issue was “unchanged in that we believe that any outstanding issues between Thailand and Cambodia should be addressed bilaterally within the existing mechanisms”.
In a speech on Monday, Hun Sen called for an international conference to resolve the ongoing border dispute, saying that the existing bilateral mechanisms were not working. A day earlier, he wrote to the UN Security Council and General Assembly to denounce comments printed in Bangkok’s The Nation newspaper in which Abhisit reportedly contemplated the use of military force at the border.
“No Thai prime ministers have ever spoken of using armed force against Cambodia, only Abhisit Vejjajiva,” Hun Sen said yesterday.
“This matter is very serious, and it looks down on the Cambodian people as well as [abuses] the UN Charter.”
The Thai government has since said Abhisit’s comments were misquoted and “taken out of context”.
The dispute between Thailand and Cambodia stretches back to July 2008, when Preah Vihear temple was listed as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre zone adjacent to the temple.
The latest round of bilateral antagonism came to a head after a meeting of UNESCO’S World Heritage Committee in Brazil that concluded earlier this month.
The Cambodian delegation to the meeting submitted a management plan for Preah Vihear that will be discussed by the committee next year.
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Center Seeks To Publish Names of All Khmer Rouge Victims
A Cambodian child holds a recent verdict book of Khmer Rouge leader Duch, during the books delivering by the U.N.-backed genocide tribunal staff officials at Prey Sar villag.
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An estimated 2 million people, or a quarter of the population, perished under the regime. The book will be a legacy to those victims, said Kok Thai Eng, deputy director of the center, as a guest on “Hello VOA” Thursday.
“For Cambodia, we have never listed the names of those who died, so I think those 2 million victims should be named in a book, as history, to be distributed to all institutions in Cambodia,” he said.
Other countries have similarly listed those who died in plane crashes or wars, he said. The Documentation Center will seek to do the same, soliciting e-mails or phone calls from the families of the dead. Family members who wish to participate can call 012 95 58 58, he said.
The book aims to list where people died, where they were from and other basic information. The center hopes to publish it over the next two years and place one in each of Cambodia's 1,621 communes.
Kok Thai Eng said he hoped the book will bring peace of mind to people after they see their loved ones listed.
“People who have called in to tell the center to list their family member's names have been really supportive and very happy,” he said.
The book project marks a next step for the Documentation Center, which has already collected thousands of documents related to the Khmer Rouge and submitted them to the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Cambodia wants UN chief to mediate with Thailand
By SOPHENG CHEANG
Associated Press
Cambodia's prime minister said Thursday he will ask United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to help mediate talks he is proposing to help settle a border dispute with neighboring Thailand.
Speaking to government officials in the capital Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said he will raise the issue with Ban during the U.N chief's official visit to Cambodia on Oct. 27-28.
Thailand and Cambodia both claim a 1.8-square-mile (4.6-square-kilometer) patch of land near the cliff-top Preah Vihear temple. Hun Sen on Monday proposed an international conference to discuss the dispute "because the bilateral discussion is at an impasse now."
"We will request the United Nations Secretary-General to be the coordinator," Hun Sen said Thursday.
Thailand opposes the idea as unnecessary because a 2000 agreement between the two countries provides the framework for a solution.
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday accused Cambodia of causing the current problem by moving people onto the disputed land. Both countries have a heavy troop presence in the area and have had several small but sometimes deadly clashes in the past few years.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Phnom Penh.
UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the status. The country submitted a management plan for the temple recently to UNESCO's World Heritage Commission, which deferred a decision until next year.
Abhisit is under pressure to move aggressively because Thai right-wing nationalists have protested that Cambodian actions there threaten Thailand's sovereignty.
Domestic political pressure limits Abhisit's ability to make compromises, while Hun Sen _ who runs Cambodia with an iron hand _ can act without much fear of criticism, and seems to enjoy taunting his Thai counterpart. His antagonism toward Abhisit's government may be ascribed to the Thai leader appointing as his foreign minister Kasit Piromya, who before taking the post had insulted Hun Sen in public speeches as a gangster and a bum.
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Having faith in Cambodia’s youths
Today marks our celebration of both the annual International Youth Day and the launch of the International Year of Youth, under the theme “Dialogue and Mutual Understanding”.
The United Nations in Cambodia recognises the importance of Cambodia’s young people to the future of this country, and we welcome this spotlight on the needs and aspirations of one-third of Cambodia’s people.
It is our duty to listen to those voices and engage in that dialogue, to include Cambodia’s young people in the development process and in the future of their country.
The UN General Assembly defines youths as individuals aged between 15 and 24 years, and young people between 10 and 24 years of age. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, however, takes a broader view and defines youth as those between the ages of 14 and 30 years of age.
Cambodia’s population iof young people, proportionately one of the largest in Southeast Asia, presents significant opportunities, but it also presents tremendous challenges.
Despite recent rapid economic growth, there are simply not enough jobs for youths.
Unemployment among youths is higher than for any other age group. At the current pace of job creation, Cambodia will not have the capacity to place the increasing numbers of young people who are entering the workforce each year.
Currently estimated at 250,000-300,000 new entrants to the labour market each year, this number is expected to rise to 400,000 in the coming years.
The significant numbers of young people who find themselves unemployed or underemployed are all vulnerable to trafficking, entry into illegal sectors and use.
Rural poor who migrate to cities for work are more likely than others to be homeless and unemployed, and are more likely to turn to criminal behaviour or to migrate in search of employment as unskilled labourers.
We know that education is one of the best options to link youths with decent employment opportunities, but access to education at all levels in Cambodia continues to be unevenly distributed between urban and rural areas, as well as between rich and poor.
Additionally, poverty and economic shocks force many young people to leave school without acquiring the basic skills they need for work and for life. Only half of young people complete primary school, and only a quarter proceed to lower secondary school.
And it is important to note that school attendance alone is not a panacea. The quality and substance of their education is what will allow the young people of Cambodia to take their place in an increasingly competitive region.
Education will also enable the youth of Cambodia to make valuable contributions to their country’s development. Soon today’s youth will be Cambodia’s leaders, educators, businesspeople and farmers. If youths are to become an engine of growth for this country, much more needs to be done to ensure their meaningful participation in education, employment, development and governance.
The United Nations system in Cambodia works with youths to ensure that their voices are heard and that their needs and concerns are addressed in our work. The issues and concerns affecting youths are integrated into each area of the UN Development Assistance Framework 2011-2015, and this will continue to inform the work we undertake.
For example, in education, the UN in Cambodia is supporting government to: strengthen and implement policies and strategies for technical and vocational education and training; increase the quality of training programmes through developing skills standards, testing, accreditation and certification procedures; and increasing the evidence base for monitoring equitable access to quality basic education.
The UN Youth Advisory Panel, the first of its kind in the world, gives youths an opportunity to become more informed about development, the United Nations, and our ongoing commitment to the issues that affect young people. And it also serves to remind us of the importance of youths to development.
The Situation Analysis of Youth in Cambodia, published by the UN in Cambodia in October 2009, laid the groundwork for future work in this area, and the findings of this study contributed to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s crucial work on the National Youth Policy.
Cambodia’s youths are the most affected sector of society in terms of coping with rapid economic growth and social change, but they are also the most resilient and adaptable segment of the population.
The UN in Cambodia will continue to work with young people as they strive to create a better future for themselves, for their families and for their country.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Villagers Avoid Farming At Thai-Cambodian Border Amid Tense Situation
BANGKOK, Aug 11 (Bernama) --- The situation along Thai-Cambodian border became more tense Wednesday as villagers avoided farming at border areas, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported Wednesday.
The villagers fear that they could be captured by Cambodian troops following a recent opinion survey backing the government to push Cambodians out of the contested area near Preah Vihear temple.
Some villagers at Phoomsarol village in Kantharalak district of Si Sa Ket province on the Cambodian border told reporters they were fearful regarding the tense situation and dared not work on their farms near the border area for fear that they could be captured by Cambodian troops.
Meanwhile, soldiers from the Suranaree Task Force and the 16th Infantry Regiment set up barricades using concrete tubes and barbed wires, to strictly control the entrance and exit road to Preah Vihear.
At Surin province, Thai and Cambodian troops were deployed along the border line particularly at the ancient Ta Muan Thom ruins, Phanom Dong Rak district.
Patrol units and soldiers were stationed at the entrance to the ruins round the clock but the situation was normal. The Thai army however has reportedly prepared a contingency plan in response to any incident.
Meanwhile, Chong Chom border market in Kab Cheng district became quiet as Cambodian villagers are fearful about crossing into Thai territory amid tensions building up.
According to TNA the uneasy situation arose after Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said in a recent interview that his government was not interested in joining Thailand to develop Preah Vihear temple, awarded to Cambodia by the International Court of Justice in 1962.
The Suan Dusit Poll of Rajabhat Suan Dusit University survey released Tuesday found that a majority of respondents supported the Thai government to push Cambodians out of the disputed area near Preah Vihear temple.
UNESCO named the temple a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the status. UNESCO's World Heritage Commission during its meeting in Brazil on July 29 postponed reviewing the management plan proposed by Cambodia to its 2011 session to be held in Bahrain.
Preah Vihear temple is located atop a 1,722-foot escarpment in the Dangrek Mountains, about 150 miles north of the Cambodian capital. Reaching it by road is easiest from the Thai side of the border. The two countries are disputing a 4.6 sq km area near the temple.
-- BERNAMA
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Thai-Cambodian border talks postponed
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to postpone indefinitely the 7th General Border Meeting (GBC) set for Aug 27-28 in Pattaya because of 'some important reasons,' defence spokesman Col Thanathip Sawangsaeng said on Wednesday.
The spokesman said Defence Minster Prawit Wongsuwon and his Cambodian counterpart Gen Tea Banh had agreed to the delay.
It was earlier reported that the postponement was made at the request of Cambodia because of an unfavourable atmosphere as a result of the conflict over the Preah Vihear temple.
Col Thanathip said the postponement was agreed on after Thailand, as the host, asked Cambodia whether it was ready for the meeting. Cambodia replied that documents to be signed at the meeting had not yet been properly prepared.
The spokesman said it was not the Preah Vihear conflict that forced the postponement.
The GBC meeting was originally intended for the two sides to sign agreements on border security cooperation over landmine disposals, suppression of drug smuggling and human trafficking, marine security and joint operations by police and soldiers along the border.
Col Thanathip said the GBC would not discuss border demarcation, since that is the responsibility of the Joint Boundary Committee of the foreign ministries of the two countries.
He said the situation along the Thai-Cambodian border was normal, so was the cross-border trade, and troops of both sides were in contact as usual.
The GBC is co-chaired by the defence ministers of the two countries. There are 18 members from each side, including the supreme commanders and heads of the three armed forces.
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Vietnam and Cambodia co-operate on drug control
Chairman Trong made the commitment while receiving the visiting delegation of the Cambodian National Committee for Drug Control headed by Deputy Prime Minister and the committee’s Chairman Ke Kim Yan in Hanoi on August 10.
NA Chairman Trong expressed his pleasure at the fine development of co-operation between the two countries in recent years, not only in the economy, trade and investment, but also in fighting crime and drugs.
He informed his guests that Vietnam has carried out many drastic measures to prevent and fight drugs by raising people’s awareness in the danger of drugs, building a strong legal system and developing the drug control programme into a national target programme to mobilise people power. However, he added, drug control was a long-lasting and tough fight which needs common efforts and close co-operation between nations, especially neighbouring ones like Vietnam and Cambodia.
Cambodian Deputy PM Ke Kim Yan expressed thanks to the Vietnamese Government and people for effective assistance in many fields, including drug control. The two sides also co-operated in ensuring political security and social order in the border areas between the two countries, he said.
He expressed his wish to learn from Vietnam’s experiences in national development and affirmed that Cambodia was ready to coordinate with Vietnamese relevant agencies and localities to fight drug evils.
The same day, the Cambodian delegation was received by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong, who is also Chairman of the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Control.
Deputy PM Trong briefed the Cambodian delegation about Vietnamese works in drug control and stressed that international co-operation, including co-ordination with Laos and Cambodia, contributed markedly to reduced trading of drugs across border.
In the area of treatment of drug addicts, Deputy PM Trong said Vietnam had, on a trial basis, used methadone medicine in detoxification in Ho Chi Minh City and Hai Phong city and got good results.
The Cambodian Deputy PM asked Vietnam to help Cambodia build a detoxification centre and share experiences in the treatment of drug addicts in the community and families, as well as train medical experts for Cambodia.
Also on August 10, the Cambodian guests met with Vietnamese Public Security Minister, General Le Hong Anh.
Minister Anh said that co-operation between the Public Security Ministry of Vietnam and the Interior Ministry of Cambodia has been boosted in line with the 1997 Agreement on Co-operation in Crime Prevention and Fighting and brought about practical results.
The Vietnamese minister expressed his hope that in the future the two sides would closely co-operate in protecting national security and building a common border of peace, friendship, stability and development. (VNA)
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Power through photos
LUNENBURG — Powerful photos line G. Ryan Ansin's studio walls — a pensive face peering from behind a hospital wall, a prosthetic leg showing a Cambodian child's visualization of fear side-by-side with sneakers in a star formation, an American child's visual depiction of fun.
The photos were taken by his students from Cambodia and Massachusetts; the students from Cambodia were patients at an amputee rehabilitation center and a sex trafficking rescue center.
The 23-year-old founder of EPHAS (Every Person Has A Story) Productions is on a plane to Rwanda today to start up an educational media arts program at Karambi High School and at a local hospital in Gitwe.
Mr. Ansin and his team will teach between 80 and 100 students the basics of digital photography in advance of the installation of a clean water system that will service more than 250,000 people in the Gitwe area.
The students will document the immediate and long-term health and cultural impacts clean water will bring to Gitwe's residents.
“They now have to walk 11.6 kilometers to a source of relatively clean water, a river, and then back again,” Mr. Ansin said.
After the workshop program is completed, Mr. Ansin and his students will be going on that 11.6 km walk, photographing and talking with people on the way.
Why photography?
Mr. Ansin, an internationally experienced photographer who has made videos for nonprofits, including Veterans International, Epic Arts, Rural Black Women's Rights and others, began making films as a 7-year-old at Fitchburg's Applewild School and then learned about photography at Lawrence Academy.
At 15, he was invited to join a trip to view the rehabilitation centers that the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundations started in Cambodia and Vietnam and found the work to which he has dedicated himself ever since.
He was asked to make a film of the trip, a film that was shown at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
“I took a year and a half off after high school and traveled the U.S., Cambodia and the Cayman Islands doing promotional videos for nonprofits, which were successful in raising money,” Mr. Ansin said.
After graduating from Emerson College, he went back to his roots in photography and started developing an educational media arts program with his past experiences in mind.
“I needed to make changes in the way I was helping. Here are these people being faced with a white male, another guy holding a big mike in their faces, telling them to move this way and asking questions through a translator; I didn't think it was an honest depiction of life in those villages,” he said.
So he decided to teach people to document their own experiences, to empower them to record their feelings with digital photography.
During his three weeks in Rwanda, students will first learn the basics of taking a photograph with a point-and-shoot digital camera.
“Then what I think of as the best part of the workshop, the students will be paired up and then sent out to find another person who has never taken a picture who they will teach. Afterward we go over the pictures together and usually find a few that are very good and they will proudly say ‘my student took that picture.' It helps them to gain confidence,” he said.
During the instruction period, a local artist/assistant is also learning how to run workshops. That assistant oversees the program, downloads pictures and sends them back to Mr. Ansin, who selects photos that best represent the location and puts them online for the public to view.
The pictures will eventually be sold at galleries in the United States for fundraising purposes. All of the proceeds will directly benefit the workshop location programs and the hosting organization.
In the Rwanda program, 75 percent of the funds will benefit the educational program to purchase additional equipment and continue instruction. The remaining 25 percent will be sent to Medical Missions for Children co-founder Andrew Kurban's 1For3 organization for a piping and purification water system for the area.
The Rwandan students can continue to access the program and use the equipment by donating their time to help new students.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, Mr. Ansin will begin to expand his school program with the help of author Loung Ung. Her two books, “First They Killed My Father” and “Lucky Child” are on the curriculum of 250 schools nationwide.
“When she is invited to speak at these and other schools she will be talking about our program. It's important to connect the hosting organizations like Veterans International and 1For3 back here.
“We hear about suicide bombings and atrocities on a daily basis, but it's not the only things that are happening in the developing world. I was lucky to be invited to Cambodia at a young age, and if I can give students here the same eye-opening experience without having to travel, well, it would help the hosting organizations become sustainable, and perhaps bring philanthropy to our kids at a young age,” Mr. Ansin said.
Mr. Ansin is planning a return trip to Cambodia later this year and will begin start-up programs to benefit reconstruction in Haiti, focus on gangs and teen violence in the Dominican Republic, schools/orphanages/soccer in Vietnam and rape in the Congo and Brazil, and a return trip to Rwanda scheduled for 2011.
“It's all about giving people a voice in their community,” Mr. Ansin said.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Abhisit: No help needed
BANGKOK - THAILAND'S Prime Minister said on Tuesday he would strive to peacefully resolve a bitter border dispute with Cambodia, and outside mediation, as Cambodia has sought, was not needed.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Cambodia's recent appeal to the United Nations to help negotiate is unnecessary because a 2000 agreement between the countries provides the framework for a solution.
He accused Cambodia of causing the problem by moving people onto 1.8 square miles (4.6 square kilometres) of disputed land around the Preah Vihear temple. Both countries have a heavy troop presence in the area, and have had several small but sometimes deadly clashes in the past few years.
The International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that the 11th century temple belongs to Phnom Penh.
UNESCO named it a World Heritage site in 2008 after Cambodia applied for the status. The country submitted a management plan for the temple recently to UNESCO's World Heritage Commission, which deferred a decision until next year.
Mr Abhisit is under pressure to move aggressively because Thai right-wing nationalists have protested that Cambodian actions there threaten Thailand's sovereignty. They also want Thailand to revoke the 2000 Memorandum of Understanding as jeopardising Thai territorial claims, which Mr Abhisit denies. -- AP
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Iran, Cambodia Agree to Boost Mutual Cooperation
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced on Tuesday that Iran and Cambodia plan to further boost their political, economic and diplomatic cooperation.
"Mutual support (by Iran and Cambodia) has paved the way for the start of a new era of economic cooperation between the two countries," Mottaki told reporters.
Referring to the agenda of his talks with the Cambodian minister, Mottaki said that he and Namhong had conferred on different issues such as trade, implementation of projects and investment.
"As regards trade, we agreed to bring Tehran-Phnom Penn relations into a new era through holding national fairs in each other's countries, active participation in the two countries' international fairs, and reciprocal meetings between the two counties' chambers of commerce and ministries of commerce," he added.
Mottaki said that he and his Cambodian counterpart had also agreed to work on tourism as a main part of their agenda for the expansion of ties.
The minister further noted that they had also agreed to put on their agenda principal agreements on boosting economic cooperation in areas of tariffs, avoidance on double taxation and joint ventures and investments in both countries.
Government Bolsters Policy To Export Labor
Cambodia is hoping to increase the number of workers it sends abroad to absorb the some 300,000 young people entering the job market each year.
In a report made public Tuesday, the government said its labor migration policy will seek to make the export of labor the second-most robust sector, following garment factories.
There are more than 10,000 Cambodians working legally in Thailand, and nearly 20,000 working in Malaysia, Seng Sakada, director general of the Ministry of Labor, told VOA Khmer. South Korea employs nearly 9,000 workers.
“They are employed especially in small and medium factories, in fishery factories and in housework,” he said.
Labor Minister Vorng Soth told reporters Tuesday these numbers were small compared to other countries, which “send millions of their citizens to work abroad.”
The UN estimates that about 300,000 youths enter the work force each year, a number expected to climb to 400,000 in the near future. The construction and garment sectors have not developed quickly enough to employ all the new workers.
Among the countries Cambodia is eying for labor export are Kuwait, Hong Kong and Sinapore, Seng Sakada said.
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Dengue Outbreak Prompts Government Campaign
Officials from the Ministry of Health met with provincial health authorities on Tuesday to begin a campaign to curb an outbreak of dengue fever.
At least 10 people have died from the disease since June, with another 3,700 infected in what health officials say is a sharp increase from last year.
“We are very concerned about the outbreak of dengue fever over the last few months,” Huy Rekol, deputy director of the Ministry of Health's dengue control department, told the meeting. “So we must have a strong response to this outbreak.”
The outbreak began at the onset of the rainy season, in June, and has spread across provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampong Chhnang, Kampot, and Kandal, as well as Kep and Phnom Penh.
The virus has become more potent in recent years, Kuy Rekol said.
“We must increase health education in communes and schools, so the people can understand how to prevent dengue fever,” Huy Rekol said.
Dengue is carried by mosquito, so people should kill their larvae by using the chemical known by its brand name Abate in water pots and other still water sources and fill in puddles around their houses, he said.
People should also sleep under mosquito nets at night to prevent the early morning bites of the Aedes mosquito, which carries the dengue virus, he said. The mosquitoes are most active between 5:30 am and 5:30 pm.
Beginning next week, the Ministry of Health will send around 5 tons of Abate to the worst hit provinces so that it can be distributed by local authorities.
People are also encouraged to by “seven-colored” fish from markets to put in water pots, which keep down mosquito larvae. Children should wear long sleeves and pants to prevent mosquito bites that can carry the disease, Huy Rekol said.
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Thailand Asks Cambodia To Leave Encroachment Area
Prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva seem to forget that Preah Vihea Temple was built by Khmer King. And thais should leave Sesaket Province and returning everything back to Cambodia.
By Jamaluddin Muhammad
BANGKOK, Aug 10 (Bernama) -- The Thailand-Cambodia border dispute took a new twist on Tuesday, when Thailand told Cambodians who encroached on its territory at the border, to leave.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government had asked its foreign and defence ministries to discuss ensuring their withdrawal from the occupied territory.
However, Abhisit refused to provide details of the tasks given to the two ministries, as well as the deadline for the withdrawal.
"All the problems arose because Cambodians encroached into our areas. It is our right to protect our sovereignty," he said.
He reiterated the country's stand to use peaceful means in solving the border issue, in line with the United Nations resolution and the Thailand-Cambodia border memorandum of understanding inked in 2000.
It is not clear on the number of Cambodians alleged to have encroached in the area, as well as the size of the occupied territory as alleged by Thailand.
The two countries are at loggerheads over a 4.6 sq km area surrounding the Preah Vihear Temple, with Thailand claiming the disputed area is part of its Si Sa Kets Karntharalak district while Cambodia says it is in its Preah Vihear province.
The 11th century Hindu temple is located in the Cambodian territory as ruled by the International Court of Justice in 1962, and Unesco listed it as a world heritage site in 2008, which led to strained relationship as both countries claimed the disputed area.
Except for the border issue, Abhisit stressed that both countries enjoyed good relationship in other areas, including trade, adding that border trading was not affected by the conflict.
He also said Thailand would explain to the United Nations and Security Council based on four points in countering his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen's allegation that Thailand threatened to use military force in solving the issue.
The points are that Hun Sen had misquoted him; the two neighbours enjoyed good relationship in other areas; Thailand would adhere to peaceful resolution and, the country respected the International Court of Justice's decision on the ownership of the temple even though it may not agree with it.
The letters to the two world bodies were in response to the letters sent by Hun Sen to the same bodies on Sunday.
Last week, the border issue heated up again when Cambodia submitted the management plan for the temple at the Unesco World Heritage Committee meeting in Brazil.
Thailand had protested as the plan included part of the disputed territory and the meeting postponed its decision on the management plan to next year's meeting in Bahrain.
Thailand Patriot Network led by People's Alliance for Democracy yellow shirts leaders held a protest in this capital last Saturday, demanding the government revoke the 2000 border memorandum of understanding.
The next day, Abhisit led the government team for a three-hour live telecast debate with the group.
It was during the debate that Abhisit stated that Thailand would use diplomacy to solve the border issue and the use of military force as the last resort, in protecting the country's sovereignty.
-- BERNAMA
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