Laos repatriated Cambodian pair

Mom Kunthear

Phnom Penh Post

LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated two Cambodian men who were arrested on suspicion of crossing the border illegally into Laos’s Champasak province and attacking a group of border guards, Cambodian officials said yesterday.

Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34, were detained by Laotian authorities after crossing the border in April. Another man, Preaing Sokha, 27, was shot and killed in the crossing.

Laos arrested four Cambodians in March, also for crossing the border illegally, but they were immediately released.

Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said in April that all seven men had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “They brought along some illegal drugs and machetes, as well.”

Deputy provincial police Chief Phiv Vongdoeun said yesterday that the two men were sent back to Cambodia in “early June” as a result of negotiations between the two countries.

“Laotian authorities agreed to return the two Cambodian men without receiving any money for sending them back,” he said.

“There are no Cambodian people detained in Laos anymore, and provincial authorities have urged people not to cross the border to cut trees.”