Cambodian opposition lawmakers lead supporters to revisit disputed border with Vietnam

Jul 19,2015

SVAY RIENG, Cambodia, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian opposition lawmakers Real Camerin and Um Sam An led over 1,000 supporters Sunday to revisit disputed Cambodia-Vietnam border in Svay Rieng province, where they had scuffled with Vietnamese villagers last month.

Camerin said his Cambodia National Rescue Party arranged over 100 minibuses to take the activists from the capital Phnom Penh to re-visit border markers No. 202 and 203 in the province's Kampong Ro district.

Hundreds of security personnel from the two countries were deployed along the border line in the area and worked together to avert any confrontation between the civilians of the two countries.

Only 100 activists were allowed to reach the border markers while the rest saw the markers in the distance. There was no report of clashes on Sunday.

It was the second time that the two lawmakers took supporters to the site. Their first attempt to reach the markers on June 28 was blocked by Vietnamese villagers, triggering a violent clash that left 10 Cambodians and 8 Vietnamese injured.

Cambodia-Vietnam border issues have become a hot topic in Cambodia in recent months after the opposition party accused the Prime Minister Hun Sen-led government of using wrong maps to demarcate border line with Vietnam.

However, Hun Sen defended that the maps his government is using to demarcate border line with Vietnam are authentic ones, which were deposited at the United Nations in 1964.

Cambodia shares a 1,270-km border in the east with Vietnam. To date, about 83 percent of the border demarcation between the two countries has been completed.