(Phnom Penh): Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet has written to the ASEAN Chair and global leaders, informing them of the Thai military’s reported plan to seize territory at 17 additional locations spanning provinces from Pursat to Koh Kong in Cambodia’s west and southwest.

In the Foreign Ministry’s press release seen by Fresh News on Wednesday (Sep. 17), Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia has written to Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia and the current Chair of ASEAN and other world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald J. Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres and President the 80th Session of U.N. General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock. The communication aims to bring the attention these world leaders to the recent developments along the Cambodia-Thailand border that endanger to peace and stability between our two nations and the wider region.

In his letters, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet apprised these world leaders on the chain of events that leads to the widening of the scale and scope of the conflict zone beyond the original areas in the provinces of Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey and need to urge for full respect for the ceasefire terms and agreements reached recent General Border Committee (GBC) and Regional Border Committee (RBC) meetings.

Since 12 August, Thai forces have widened the conflict zone by erecting barbed wire and barricades, issuing ultimatums, and forcibly evicting Cambodian civilians from long-settled lands in Chouk Chey and Prey Chan villages of Banteay Meanchey Province, which is located at north-western part of Cambodia, a few hundred kilometers away from the above conflict zones. Twenty-five families have already been blocked from their homes and fields, and Thai military spokesperson recently threatened further evictions in the very near future, potentially affecting hundreds of households. In addition, based on credible sources, Thai military has an intention of using forces to seize territory at 17 other locations in provinces from Pursat to Koh Kong, situated at the western and south-western parts of Cambodia.

The above unilateral actions taken by Thai military are based on its unilaterally drawn maps, contrary to the mutually agreed maps, which are the results of demarcation works of the Commission of Delimitation of the Boundary between Indo-China and Siam set up by the Convention of 1904 and the Treaty of 1907 between France and Siam, recognized by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and reaffirmed by Cambodia and Thailand in the Memorandum of Understanding on the Survey and Demarcation of Land Boundary signed on 14 June 2000 (MOU 2000). This MOU 2000 was registered at the United Nations by Thailand on 25 May 2011 and was published in the UN Treaty Series.

These unilateral actions by Thailand constitute an attempt to unilaterally demarcate the boundary through the use of forces, in direct violation of the MOU 2000, the mandate of the Cambodian -Thai Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary (JBC), and the commitments recorded in the recent GBC and Regional Border Committee (RBC) meetings:

"Both sides agreed not to undertake provocative actions that may escalate tensions... or expand the scope and scale of the disputes."

These unilateral measures, including the extraterritorial application of Thai martial law, represent an unacceptable breach of Cambodia's sovereignty and a clear violation of international law, including the UN Charter, the ASEAN Charter, and the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia. In addition, these unilateral actions not only constitute a grave infringement of human rights, but also create risks of violent confrontation.

In the spirit of de-escalation and ASEAN centrality, Samdech Thipadei Hun Manet seeks the support of all the world leaders through their good offices to engender: