The Cambodian Human Rights Committee asked the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, OHCHR, to examine and monitor Thai military demolition of Cambodian residents' homes and the placement of containers and barbed wire in areas the committee described as invaded and illegally occupied Cambodian sovereign territory.
Senior Minister and committee chairman Keo Remy made the request at a working meeting with Benjamin Moreau, the official in charge of OHCHR's Cambodia office, on Wednesday, January 21.
Before discussing cooperation, Keo Remy expressed deep concern about Thai military actions. He said homes had been demolished in the areas he described as invaded and illegally occupied, with containers and barbed wire preventing residents from returning to their original homes and communities.
He asked OHCHR to examine and monitor the situation, use international human-rights mechanisms to work with relevant parties and call for respect for international human-rights law so Cambodians could exercise their right to return safely and with dignity. The actions were considered violations of basic rights including freedom of movement, adequate housing, private property, safety and protection.
The report says that after the ceasefire took effect at noon on December 27, 2025, Thai troops placed containers and barbed wire around Cambodian villages in Banteay Meanchey and elsewhere. Al Jazeera journalists who travelled to Chouk Chey, a village on the disputed border where Cambodians had lived for generations, reported that Thai soldiers threatened to shoot if residents returned to live in their homes.
By: Nget Pisant.
