A conversation with veteran rights advocate Phil Robertson.
The Cambodian-Thai border conflict is showing few signs of abating, with both sides accusing the other of breaching a Malaysian-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a five-day battle on July 28 but did little to resolve arguments over the disputed frontier.Any resolution and a reopening of the border appears unlikely at least until after the next Thai election, not due until April or May. In the meantime, Thailand has told Cambodian villagers living in Prey Chan and Chouk Chey have been told they are subjects of Thai law and must leave.Thailand has also been accused of subjecting villagers to a psyops campaign with pre-recorded sounds of ghosts, children screaming, dogs howling, and helicopters blasted across the border in a bid to frighten them out of their homes.That has prompted Cambodian calls for an investigation by U.N. High Commissioner Volker Turk and for an internal inquiry within Thailand, made by the Thai Senator Angkhana Neelapaijit.It’s also a subject discussed by The Diplomat’s Luke Hunt, who is in Phnom Penh, in his latest podcast with Bangkok-based Phil Robertson, the director of the Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates (AHRLA).Robertson says there is much at stake in the conflict, which has been complicated by arguments over French colonial era maps, crime syndicates, and the disintegration of the relationship between the ruling Hun family in Cambodia and the ousted Shinawatra clan in Thailand.He also says the loss of trade and jobs is causing economic hardships on both sides of the border amid an overwhelming need for an adult conversation between leaders from both countries.Robertson has spent 30 years as a researcher, communicator and advocate on human rights based in Bangkok. With AHRLA he works with U.N. agencies, governments, NGOs, labor unions, migrant worker networks, and business and human rights organizations on a myriad of projects.He is fluent in written and spoken Thai and Lao.