PHNOM PENH: Two Cambodian fishermen arrived home in Koh Kong province on Monday (Sept 7) morning, nearly seven months after they were detained by Thailand’s First Naval Area Command on Feb 20, with the Thai navy claiming they had entered illegally into the maritime area of Thailand’s Trat province.
The two neighbouring kingdoms are currently pursuing the compulsory conciliation process under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) process.
A third fishermen who was arrested at the same time reportedly remains in Thai custody.
Koh Koh provincial authorities welcomed the two men, whose names were not revealed, at Koh Kong’s Cham Yeam Border Checkpoint this morning, Sept 7.
The February detention drew protest from Cambodia, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation formally protesting the “unauthorised presence of Royal Thai Navy vessels and their unlawful exercise of law enforcement within Cambodia’s territorial waters, including the arrest of three Cambodian nationals and the seizure of their fishing vessel”.
The ministry stated that a Thai vessel entered an area approximately 7.2 nautical miles from Koh Kong province, a clear violation of Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial waters as well as international law.
The case is considered a symptom of the maritime dispute between the two countries, itself an extension of the land border disputes arising from last year’s armed clashes.
The two countries are now in the process of the compulsory conciliation procedure under Unclos, with the five-member conciliator council expected to issue its first ruling of the process soon. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
