Travel Restrictions in Cambodian Province Ahead of Mass Protest

Authorities in Cambodia have imposed unusual travel restrictions in a southeastern province ahead of a planned opposition mass protest against election results this weekend, residents and non-governmental groups said Tuesday, criticizing the move as a violation of freedom of movement. Some of them suspect that the controls in Svay Rieng province, which juts into neighboring Vietnam, were part of government moves to prevent people from the villages to travel to Phnom Penh to participate in the Sept. 7 protest organized by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). No similar travel restrictions have been reported in other provinces. Svay Rieng Police on Tuesday stopped a group of about 100 villagers from leaving the province to attend a religious meeting westward in Sihanoukville province on the Gulf of Thailand. Tik Vanny, a member of the group, said that local authorities in Svay Rieng’s Kampong Tralach commune in Romeas Haek district stopped four buses with the 100 Christian villagers from leaving the province even though they tried to explain to local officials that they were going for a religious gathering. “ We couldn’t go, police stopped us. They said we didn’t ask them permission,” he said. This is believed to be the first time local authorities have asked villagers to produce papers permitting them to travel outside their residential areas, he said. …

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/travel-09032013234418.html