Cambodia Urges Thailand To Arrest Killers

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to its Thai counterpart on Tuesday, protesting the killings of five Cambodian nationals in Thailand last weekend and urged au­thorities to bring the perpetrators to justice, according to a statement released Wednesday.

“Support and cooperation from Thai authorities…to investigate this in­cident is most important for keep­ing friendship, trust and mu­tual understanding between both countries,” the statement said.

Local rights group Adhoc has al­so issued a statement to Thai Am­bassador Piyawat Niyomrerk condemning the killings and urging a “serious investigation.”

“I worry in the future…that this kind of killing could increase ha­tred between the two peoples,” Ad­­hoc president Thun Saray said by phone Wednesday.

Five Cambodians, including one wo­man who was eight months pregnant, were shot Saturday mor­­ning at a Thai furniture com­pa­ny where they worked.

Their bodies were returned to Cam­bo­dia on Tuesday afternoon.

Attempts to contact Thai Em­bassy officials were unsuccessful Wednesday.

The Thai company that em­ployed the five victims has paid just over $250, to each of their five families to cover funeral expenses, said Lieutenant-Colonel Tim Sa­reth, deputy chief of the Cam­bo­di­an-Thai border coordination office.

In the wake of the killings, 73 Cam­bodians living and working il­legally in Thailand were re­turned to Cambodia by their Thai em­­ployers on Monday, officials said.

The 73 were sent from Thai­land’s Rayong province to the border checkpoint at Daung in Bat­tam­bang prov­ince, said Kong Lun­di, immigration police chief at the Daung checkpoint.

“They all praised their Thai boss as good and gentle,” Kong Lundi said. “He had taken care of all the Cam­bo­di­an workers.”

 

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