Cambodia-Thailand: the ceasefire has entered into force

The ceasefire concluded between Thailand and Cambodia entered into force at midnight overnight Monday to Tuesday, after five days of deadly clashes on their border.

The two countries have come to A common agreement providing for an immediate and unconditional ceasefiresaid Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, which played the intermediaries, said after three hours of discussions with its counterparts in the countries concerned.

President Donald Trump congratulated himself on his role in obtaining this ceasefire. I am delighted to announce that after the intervention of President Donald J. Trump, the two countries have reached a cease-fire and peace. Congratulations to everyone! wrote the president on his Truth Social network, indicating that he has since spoken to the leaders of the two countries.

In the Cambodian city of Samraong, 20 kilometers from the border, a journalist from the France-Presse agency (AFP) heard incessant artillery fire throughout the day on Monday. The explosions stopped 30 minutes before midnight, local time.

In the Cambodian province of Preah Vihear, where some of the most intense fights took place, calm reigned twenty minutes after the official start of the ceasefire, Kim Rithy, on Facebook, announced.

300,000 displaced people

The clashes have killed at least 38 people since last Thursday and caused the movement of around 300,000 inhabitants.

The two kingdoms of Southeast Asia have been opposed for decades on the layout of their common border, defined in the time of French Indochina. But rarely in modern history, such an episode of violence had shaken the region.

The cease-fire agreement provides that the military commanders of the two parties meet at 7 am local time before the meeting of a cross-border committee in Cambodia on August 4.

Thailand and Cambodia have accused each other of having attacked first, and each camp called into question the sincerity of the opponent, before sitting at the negotiating table, under the eye of the United States and China.

The acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, praised the intervention of Malaysia, which occupies the rotating presidency of the Association of Nations of Southeast Asia (ASEAN), China and the President Trump.

We have agreed with a ceasefire, which, we hope, will be respected in good faith by both parties.

For his part, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet judged that this peace agreement offered a chance of a Back to normal.

A cautious hope dominated among the displaced, on both sides of the border, after the announcement of the ceasefire.

In Cambodia, Phean Neth, 45, found refuge in a vast camp of displaced on the site of a temple, far from the fights. I am so happy that I cannot describe it.

On the Thai side, Tee Samanjai, 68, is already thinking about his return to the farm and what will do: Check the chickens, fertilize the rice and take care of the fields. But the concern remains. I want to come back, but I don’t trust Cambodia at all. No one in our village trusts.

Significant breakthrough

Bangkok and Phnom Penh were knives drawn since the death of a Khmer soldier in late May during an exchange of fire in a disputed area. Since then, against a backdrop of the nationalist discourse, the two countries have embarked on an outbidding of measures that affected economic flows and people.

Before the triggering of clashes, Thailand also expelled the Cambodian ambassador from its territory and recalled its present in Cambodia. The Khmer kingdom had responded by degrading at the lowest level Diplomatic relations with his neighbor.

The European Union praised a significant breakthroughthe head of diplomacy Kaja Kallas judging essential that the two countries implement The ceasefire of good faith.

Paris has estimated that This significant advance must be the starting point for a lasting settlement of disputes through peaceful routes, in accordance with international law.

Monday evening in a press release, the secretary general of theHim, Antonio Guterres, by the voice of a spokesperson, exhorted the two countries to fully comply with the agreement and to create an environment conducive to the settlement of longtime issues and the establishment of lasting peace.

Donald Trump called on the chiefs of the two camps on Saturday, urging them to agree on a rapid agreement, under penalty of freezing discussions on prohibitive customs duties which must strike these two economies dependent on exports on August 1.

The clashes have officially killed 25 on the Thai side, including eleven soldiers, and 13 dead, including five soldiers, on the Cambodian side. More than 138,000 Thai have evacuated risk areas, according to Bangkok, and more than 140,000 Cambodians have done the same, according to Phnom Penh.