`Stop Khmer Rouge', say campaigners

The frightening possibility of a return to power by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army in Cambodia has not been eliminated, according to Australian campaigners. Both the Campaign to Oppose the Return of the Khmer Rouge (CORKR) and the Australian Cambodian Support Committee are calling for urgent action to help the Cambodian government defeat Khmer Rouge insurgency.

In the period of Khmer Rouge rule in the late 1970s, millions of Cambodians died.

According to CORKR secretary Rosanna Barbero, Khmer Rouge soldiers attempting to overthrow the Cambodian government are still being allowed to retreat into Thailand, thus allowing them to recover from military defeats, such as their recent eviction from the town of Pailin.

According to Barbero, foreign minister Gareth Evans has washed his hands of the issue, saying that it was up to Cambodia and Thailand to “deal with the Khmer Rouge”. This is in marked contrast, she says, to his willingness to intervene to force the government to enter a coalition with the Khmer Rouge at the time of the “Evans peace plan”.

Representatives of the Australian Cambodian Support Committee have written to Prime Minister Keating calling for urgent financial and material support to the Cambodian government, aid to encourage defections from the Khmer Rouge and strong pressure on Thailand to cease all assistance to Pol Pot.

Both groups stress that they do not favour Australian military intervention.

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