Blood on the border

Sixty-nine Cambodians were shot dead by Thai soldiers while crossing the border illegally last year, the Ministry of Interior (MoI) said on Tuesday at the launch of its annual report. ... “Cambodians were shot dead by Thai soldiers in 55 [incidents] last year … in which 69 people were killed and 165 workers were arrested and detained,” Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told more than 500 senior officials during his presentation on Tuesday, which also listed the figures. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cambodia-Thai Border Relations Office dispute that figure, however, claiming that fewer than 20 people were killed on the border last year. ... Pich Vanna, director of the Cambodia-Thai Border Relations Office, said yesterday that his office had recorded 17 people killed by Thai soldiers in 2013. “I am not sure about the report of the ministry, but from my report, along the Cambodia-Thai border, about 17 people were shot dead [in 2013]. We have evidence such as photos of the actual dead bodies,” Vanna said.

 Vong Sokheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/blood-border