Sold-out sVar Kim Hong is going to great length to cover his Yuon masters' encroachments

sVar Kim Hong's kowtow trip to Hanoi

Rainsy to face fresh charge in border row

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2010
BY MEAS SOKCHEA
The Phnom Penh Post

THE government has again gone on the offensive against opposition leader Sam Rainsy, saying he will soon face charges of falsifying public documents in order to support allegations of Vietnamese territorial encroachments.

Var Kimhong, Cambodia's chief border negotiator said at a press conference on Monday that the government had lost patience with the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) president and his "exaggerations" about the situation on the Vietnamese border.

"The SRP is not confused about the situation. Their purpose is to twist our work and criticise the government very strongly," he said. "This is a national betrayal. The government will sue him again on accusations of faking public documents." He did not mention when the charges would be laid, saying only that the case had been forwarded on to government lawyers.

Last month, the SRP posted on its Web site what it described as "unprecedented evidence" that Vietnamese border markers 184, 185, 186 and 187 were placed well inside Cambodia's legal territory as defined by French and American maps.

On January 27, Sam Rainsy was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison and fined 8 million riels (around US$1,927) for joining villagers in uprooting six temporary border markers in October. The villagers said the markers were placed in the rice fields by Vietnamese authorities.

On Monday, Var Kimhong also challenged Sam Rainsys claim that Vietnamese border officials had uprooted the four posts in response to the SRP’s allegations, saying they had excavated certain sections of the border in the course of the joint demarcation process. "The Vietnamese did not pull up the posts because we have not planted any posts yet … If Sam Rainsy has evidence of this, please show us," he said. "We cannot tolerate him anymore because we have already explained to him about this."

SRP spokesman Kimsour Phirith rejected the government's allegations against Sam Rainsy, saying the threat of charges was merely an attempt at "weakening" the opposition. He also said that if the government wanted to eliminate criticisms that it is turning a blind eye to Vietnamese incursions, it should allow impartial observers to scrutinise the placing of border posts.

"To show whether or not the planting of the posts was legal or illegal, the government must allow border experts and civil society activists to attend the border demarcation," he said.

Kimsour Phirith added that although the party did not have photos of Vietnamese officials in the act of uprooting the border markers, it had collected testimony from witnesses along the border.

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The road to Thailand from Vietnam is getting shorter and shorter

Vietnam to build coastal road ink to Cambodia, Thailand

Monday, February 22, 2010
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)

Construction will begin next month on a 220-km long coastal road in the Mekong Delta as part of an international highway linking the country with Cambodia and Thailand, according to the project’s management board.

Running through the provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, the US$440 million road will be built in cooperation with the governments of South Korea and Australia, as well as the Asian Development Bank.

Once it is completed, the road will be part of a nearly 1,000 kilometer link known as the Thailand-Cambodia-Vietnam Southern Coastal Road Corridor, starting at Bangkok and ending at Ca Mau Province’s Nam Can District.

The road would create more opportunities for Kien Giang and Ca Mau to develop their economies and promote tourism, according to Duong Tien Dung, vice chairman of the Ca Mau’s People’s Committee.

ADB experts, meanwhile, said that as the road mainly ran through the three countries’ poor provinces, it would provide greater access to basic social services for local people and encourage development of local economies.

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Drop in Mekong River level threatens Vientiane rice fields

Tue, 23 Feb 2010
DPA

Vientiane - An unusual drop in the water level of the Mekong River has dried up the irrigation systems of over 3,600 hectares of rice fields in the Lao capital, state media reported Tuesday. Seven Vientiane irrigation systems have insufficient water because the Mekong has been falling more rapidly than usual, dropping an average rate of 10 centimetres a day since the beginning of February, the Vientiane Times reported.

The lack of water is threatening some 3,680 hectares of rice fields in Hadxaifong and Pakngum districts of the capital, according to an official at the Vientiane Irrigation Division, who asked not to be named.

"Though these seven stations are still operational, they are unable to run a full capacity due to the insufficient inflow of water," the official said. If the Mekong level drops another 30-50 centimetres some 9,000 hectares of rice land will be affected, the official warned.

The irrigation division asked the government for 632 million kip (about 748,000 dollars) to dig channels through the exposed riverbed to allow water to flow to the pumping stations.

In neighbouring Thailand, non-governmental organizations have urged the government to negotiate with Beijing to release more water from Chinese dams on the upper Mekong River.

"It's time for the Thai government to look into the impact of Chinese dams on downstream communities," said The Save the Mekong Coalition, a Thailand-based NGO, in a statement issued on Monday.

The Chinese government has built four mega-dams on the upper Mekong to produce electricity for Yunnan province.

The Mekong River flows through southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam, providing irrigation and fishing grounds for millions of people.

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Cambodian school adopting Japanese method enjoys popularity

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 23
KYODO

A private school in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh adopting Japanese-style teaching in music, painting and other subjects is enjoying high popularity.

The school's principal, 60-year-old Yasuo Anzai, was an assistant principal at a junior high school in Saitama Prefecture before going to Cambodia, leaving his family behind in the city of Saitama eight years ago.

In Cambodia which has been struggling to overcome the legacy of the terror reigned Pol Pot era, he said, ''I'd like to help children who will create a new era.''

In December, ''Edelweiss,'' a song from the musical ''The Sound of Music,'' echoed in downtown Cambodia where barrack cabins and tenements are lined up. Several children played keyed harmonicas in front of the ''Bamboo and Wind School,'' about 4.5 kilometers southwest of the Royal Palace.

''In this country, music education materials for children are very limited. I'm teaching them painting and music to brush up their sensitivity,'' Anzai said.

Painting and music are rarely taught in elementary school in Cambodia.

His school offers morning, afternoon and night classes, and some 100 children aged 5 to 18 are attending. With six local teachers in their teens through 20s, the school is teaching how to read and write Khmer, the official Cambodian language, and mathematics, and instructing music and painting. They also teach some selected students Japanese and English.

To help them gain a better understanding of life and ethics, the school has also adopted Japanese-style teaching, such as radio gymnastics and evaluation meetings after lessons.

''It's enjoyable to be able to study things different from Cambodian schools,'' a 9-year-old boy said. ''The school has become a bit of a popular school (in Cambodia).''

The school collects $3 a month per child from their parents to pay for utilities. The amount is much smaller than tuition at other public schools and support from his former school colleagues in Japan covers the shortfall caused by educational material expenses and salaries for teachers.

Supporters also include Rotary clubs in Shibata, Niigata Prefecture, and Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Anzai said, ''Education is indispensable for the development of a country. I'd like to work hard as if I were still young.''

He taught social studies at junior high schools in Saitama Prefecture and other locations for about 30 years and also assumed the post of deputy principal. Impressed by Cambodia children during his trip to the country in 1998, he came to Cambodia after his retirement.

In Cambodia, the memories of the Indochina War and massacres are still intact. ''The country is a small country tormented by wars and the big powers. It has kept my attention ever since the Vietnam War,'' he said.

''Although Cambodian industry is still lagging behind, graduates from our school will take on various professions in the future,'' he said, adding his school will start computer classes.

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Special Dogs Assist in Wild Tiger Conservation Efforts in Cambodia

A female tiger, Neang Sros, gapes while her taking a rest at the Tuek Chhou Zoo in Kampot province, some 150 kilometers south of the Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Photo: AP)

In the Asian zodiac, this is the year of the tiger but conservationists say wild tiger populations are quickly disappearing. In Cambodia, there is hope that a pair of special dogs from the United States can help save the tiger.

22 February 2010
Daniel Schearf, VOA
Mondulkiri, Cambodia

In Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia conservationists estimate hunting and poaching have reduced tiger numbers to fewer than 30 in each country.

In eastern Cambodia's Mondulkiri Protected Forest, conservationists have brought in unique specialists to track down the few remaining tigers.

Sadie May and Scooby Doo are black Labrador retrievers. They are part of Conservation Canines, a project at the University of Washington in the U.S. that trains dogs to sniff for wild animal feces - also called scat.

Scooby's handler, Jennifer Hartman, says the dogs are much faster than human researchers at finding tiger scat.

"And we train them to sit at them, which shows us that they have something," she said. "And, we come and check it out. And, all of our dogs are extremely ball driven - they love to play. So, their reward for finding a scat is they get to play ball for two to three minutes and that keeps them good all day long."

The handlers note where the scat is found and take a sample for analysis to determine if it is from a tiger and to check the animal's health.

Sadie's handler, Elizabeth Seely, says they can learn a lot from animal droppings.

"We can get hormone levels, physiological data, disease status," she said. "And, all of it combined will give us an overall population health."

Cambodia's Mondulkiri Forest was once rich in wildlife, including tigers, but hunting and poaching largely emptied the region and killed off almost all the tigers.

Lean Kha was a soldier with the communist Khmer Rouge in the early 1980s and admits he killed wildlife for food and trade, including 14 tigers.

He says he became a forest ranger to make up for what he calls his past sins.

"There were a lot of animals when I was with the Khmer Rouge and less afterwards," he said. "But, since I became an animal protector it seems like wildlife numbers are increasing."

Conservation Canines has teamed up with Cambodian rangers and the conservation group WWF to protect wild tigers. The big cats once roamed throughout Asia, into Siberia, but conservationists say only a few thousand tigers remain in the wild; far more live in captivity. Without immediate action, the WWF says, by 2022, there may no longer be any wild tigers.

Nick Cox, the WWF's Dry Forest and Tiger Program coordinator for the countries along Southeast Asia's Mekong River, says the forests of Cambodia's eastern plains offer an intact habitat for reviving wild tigers.

"These are some of the largest protected areas in this part of Asia and particularly important for conservation because they hold huge potential for recovering wildlife populations including tiger," he said.

The WWF has set up cameras in parts of the forest to capture images of elusive wildlife.

But the last photo they got of a tiger was in 2007.

Conservationists hope that Sadie May and Scooby Doo will find some fresher evidence of wild tigers - and help efforts to save them.

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Cambodian school adopting Japanese method enjoys popularity

PHNOM PENH, Feb. 23
KYODO

A private school in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh adopting Japanese-style teaching in music, painting and other subjects is enjoying high popularity.

The school's principal, 60-year-old Yasuo Anzai, was an assistant principal at a junior high school in Saitama Prefecture before going to Cambodia, leaving his family behind in the city of Saitama eight years ago.

In Cambodia which has been struggling to overcome the legacy of the terror reigned Pol Pot era, he said, ''I'd like to help children who will create a new era.''

In December, ''Edelweiss,'' a song from the musical ''The Sound of Music,'' echoed in downtown Cambodia where barrack cabins and tenements are lined up. Several children played keyed harmonicas in front of the ''Bamboo and Wind School,'' about 4.5 kilometers southwest of the Royal Palace.

''In this country, music education materials for children are very limited. I'm teaching them painting and music to brush up their sensitivity,'' Anzai said.

Painting and music are rarely taught in elementary school in Cambodia.

His school offers morning, afternoon and night classes, and some 100 children aged 5 to 18 are attending. With six local teachers in their teens through 20s, the school is teaching how to read and write Khmer, the official Cambodian language, and mathematics, and instructing music and painting. They also teach some selected students Japanese and English.

To help them gain a better understanding of life and ethics, the school has also adopted Japanese-style teaching, such as radio gymnastics and evaluation meetings after lessons.

''It's enjoyable to be able to study things different from Cambodian schools,'' a 9-year-old boy said. ''The school has become a bit of a popular school (in Cambodia).''

The school collects $3 a month per child from their parents to pay for utilities. The amount is much smaller than tuition at other public schools and support from his former school colleagues in Japan covers the shortfall caused by educational material expenses and salaries for teachers.

Supporters also include Rotary clubs in Shibata, Niigata Prefecture, and Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture.

Anzai said, ''Education is indispensable for the development of a country. I'd like to work hard as if I were still young.''

He taught social studies at junior high schools in Saitama Prefecture and other locations for about 30 years and also assumed the post of deputy principal. Impressed by Cambodia children during his trip to the country in 1998, he came to Cambodia after his retirement.

In Cambodia, the memories of the Indochina War and massacres are still intact. ''The country is a small country tormented by wars and the big powers. It has kept my attention ever since the Vietnam War,'' he said.

''Although Cambodian industry is still lagging behind, graduates from our school will take on various professions in the future,'' he said, adding his school will start computer classes.

Read more!

Thailand: Migrant Workers Face Killings, Extortion, Labor Rights Abuses

23 Feb 2010
Source: Human Rights Watch

(Bangkok) - The Thai government should swiftly act to end police abuse and discriminatory laws and policies against migrant workers and their families, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The February deadline for more than a million migrant workers to enter the "nationality verification" process or face immediate deportation creates the risk of further abuses and should be postponed until it can be carried out in a fair manner.

Human Rights Watch's 124-page report, "From the Tiger to the Crocodile: Abuse of Migrant Workers in Thailand," is based on 82 interviews with migrants from neighboring Burma, Cambodia, and Laos. It describes the widespread and severe human rights abuses faced by migrant workers in Thailand, including killings, torture in detention, extortion, and sexual abuse, and labor rights abuses such as trafficking, forced labor, and restrictions on organizing.

"Migrant workers make huge contributions to Thailand's economy, but receive little protection from abuse and exploitation," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Those from Burma, Cambodia, and Laos suffer horribly at the hands of corrupt civil servants and police, unscrupulous employers, and violent thugs, who all realize they can abuse migrants with little fear of consequences."

Human Rights Watch said that migrant workers face an imminent threat from the Thai government's decision that all migrants must enter the national verification process by February 28, or face arrest and deportation. Eighty percent of the migrant workers in Thailand are from Burma. They are particularly at risk, as they face ethnic and political conflict in their home country. The costs of the nationality verification process, which can amount to two or three months of salary, are unacceptably high for these migrant communities.

Human Rights Watch said that unrealistic demands set by the Thai government, coupled with a complicated and unregulated nationality verification process, could lead to mass deportations of migrants from Thailand to Burma and situations that could result in fundamental human rights and labor rights violations.

Police abuse migrants with impunity. A Burmese migrant told Human Rights Watch that she witnessed two Thai policemen in Ranong repeatedly kick a Burmese youth in the chest, killing him, because he did not reply to their inquiries in Thai.

"Many Burmese were watching and nobody went and helped because all of the people were afraid of those police, so nobody said anything about this killing, and nobody informed the police station," said the witness. "When I saw this [killing], I felt that we Burmese people always have to be humble and have to be afraid of the Thai police. I feel that there is no security for our Burmese people [in Thailand] or for myself."

Local police and officials frequently ignore or fail to effectively investigate complaints. Provincial decrees and national laws prohibit migrants from establishing their own organizations to assert their rights, while restrictions in policy on changing employers, moving outside designated areas, and convening meetings with more than a handful of persons leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation and ill-treatment.

Another migrant worker told Human Rights Watch how two armed men approached her in the rubber plantation where she worked, shot her husband dead in front of her, and then both men raped her. Despite a suspect being named in a police report, the police did not pursue the case.

"I am Burmese and a migrant worker. That is why the police don't care about this case," she said. "My husband and I are only migrant workers and we have no rights here."

Migrants reported constant fear of extortion by the police, who demand money or valuables from migrants held in police custody in exchange for their release. It is not uncommon for a migrant to lose the equivalent of one to several months' pay in one extortion incident.

"Many officials and police treat migrant workers like walking ATMs," said Adams. "They are just part of a system that robs and mistreats migrants wherever they turn."

Human Rights Watch found that in several provinces decrees by provincial governors have increased migrants' vulnerability by enforcing prohibitions on use of mobile phones and motorcycles, imposing harsh restrictions on movement, outlawing migrant gatherings, and enforcing nighttime curfews. These repressive decrees reflect the treatment of migrants as a national security problem instead of as part of a global phenomenon of the movement of people for economic, environmental, and political reasons.

"If the Abhisit government really is reformist, it should immediately abolish the provincial decrees that keep migrants effectively held under lock and key, bound to their job sites, and cut off from the outside world," said Adams.

Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to establish an independent and impartial commission to investigate allegations of abuse by police and other authorities against migrants. Such a commission should have the power to subpoena, require presentation of evidence, and recommend criminal and civil charges against abusers. It should make public reports on a periodic basis.

"Life is extremely uncertain and unsafe for migrants in Thailand as they flee one difficult or deadly situation into another," said Adams. "They are a living example of the Thai proverb which describes how the vulnerable ‘escape from the tiger, but then meet the crocodile.'"

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