May 27: The British Embassy in Phnom Penh announced a donation of $600,000
to UNICEF in Cambodia. $383,000 of the grant will be used for EPI vaccines and $217,000
will be used by UNICEF in 1996 and 1997 to further develop and improve the control
of diarrhoeal diseases (CDD) and acute respiratory infections (ARI) Programmes.
May 29: Reuters reported: Khmer Rouge guerrillas have kidnapped about 300
villagers, mostly childen, and forced them to work as porters in the rice fields
in northwestern Battambang and western Pursat provinces, Cambodia officials said.
"Five of them managed to escape and now they have arrived home peacefully,"
the official said. He said the guerrillas were forcing the kidnapped villagers to
carry weapons and ammunition. Ministry of Information spokesman Sieng Lapresse said
the government was investigating the kidnappings.
May 30: Reuters reported: Cam-bodia's King Norodom Sihanouk is feeling
well after suffering a mild stroke last week, First Prime Minister and the King's
son Prince Norodom Ranariddh said. Before his latest illness King Sihanouk said he
had to return home quickly from an extended overseas trip because of the serious
political situation caused by the power-sharing row between the government's two
main coalition partners. "In general I think we can be quite optimistic,"
Ranariddh said. "The two parties are really willing to resolve our problems,"
he added.
May 31: Reuters reported: The Australian Embassy in Phnom Penh announced
that Australia donated Aust$2.5 million through the World Food Programme (WFP) to
meet food aid needs in Cambodia in 1996. The donation funded the local purchase by
WFP of an estimated 7,000 metric tonnes of rice to be used for Food-for-Work activities
and emergency food aid.
Jun 1: Reuters reported : Cambodian co-premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh
and Hun Sen, in the celebration for International Children's Day, pledged to fight
for better conditions for children in the poor war-battered country. A spokesman
for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working for children's rights in Cambodia
appealed to the would community and local authorities to take more action to fight
child prostitution and sex trafficking of young women. "We should not exploit
the children for political purpose and we will suppress the criminals who have child
sex (or involved in) trafficking or something like that," Ranariddh said. "I
will do everything for assuring your (Cambodian children) futures," Hun Sen
said.
Jun 4: Reuters reported: The special representative of the secretary-general
of the United Nations for Human Rights in Cambodia condemned unreservedly the killing
by armed elements of the Khmer Rouge of the 12 unarmed villagers in Kandieng district,
Pursat province. He also called on the assistance of the international community,
and particularly states signatories to the Paris Agreements, which are in a position
to exert pressure on the Khmer Rouge, to endeavor to make these criminal activities
stop and help bring those responsible to justice.
Jun 6: Reuter reported : The Cambodian government tried to check reports
that Pol Pot may have died as rumours flew about the state of the secretive Khmer
Rouge commander. Ieng Mouly, the Minister of Information, said if Pol Pot's death
was verified it would be good news for the Cambodian people as it would mean the
country was "rid of one of the men who killed millions of people". "I
think it would be good news because of what he had done to our country in the past,"
said Ly Thuch, head of co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh's cabinet, adding he hoped
Khmer Rouge guerrillas would return to the national fold and end their guerrilla
war against the government.
Jun 10: Reuter reported: Cam-bodia's National AIDS Program (NAP) appealed
for help to fight the spread of the virus that causes the deadly disease. "The
estimated figure for HIV-infected persons in 1996 is 120,000 cases and for people
suffering from full-blown AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) we estimate
at least 1,000 cases," Hor Bun Leng, a NAP director said. "It's a very,
very serious problem. We know how to handle it, how to get the information out to
the people and how to get success, but we need more money - we need funding from
any donor agency which could help," he added.
