PM calls for crackdown on border
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday implored authorities along Cambodia’s northern border to redouble their efforts at stopping illegal loggers from sneaking into Thailand, where more than a dozen have been shot dead by Thai soldiers so far this year. The 13 Cambodians fatally shot by Thai troops while logging since the beginning of January is fast approaching the 15 shot dead in all of 2011. “You can work on this, I would like to remind you again,” Mr. Hun Sen said during a ceremony in Siem Reap province marking the widening of National Road 68, which runs to the Thai border through Oddar Meanchey province. “Make a campaign,” he said. “Why do they [the loggers] always want to steal the wood and get themselves killed? Look into it with the provincial government, soldiers, police and military police. Let’s prevent this. These people don’t come from a short distance, from Kompong Cham and Takeo and also this province. You, leaders of the battlefield, can you constantly work on this?” …
