Remains of 23 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers repatriated


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

The remains of 23 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers, killed during the 1980s in Siem Reap province in Phase II, were repatriated to Vietnam through the Provincial Administration and the Ministry of National Defence on Saturday.

The handing over ceremony of the remains, which were held at Siem Reap Provincial Military Operation Headquarters, was presided over by Provincial Deputy Governor Pin Prakod and Colonel Nguyen Duc Thong, Commander of the Vietnamese K71 Task Force of the 7th Military Region in Tay Ninh province of Vietnam.

Prakod said that the two countries’ working groups started looking for the remains of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in the province in 2003.

He said the search was conducted in Kralanh, Angkor Choum, Sotr Nikum, Puok and Angkor Thom districts, which are former frontline fighting areas between Vietnamese soldiers and Khmer Rouge troops.

He emphasised that the working groups have unearthed the remains of 940 Vietnamese volunteer soldiers in the province, which have been repatriated to Vietnam. 

He added that from February to June 13 this year the working groups discovered another 23 remains of Vietnamese soldiers in the province.


“The search and repatriation of the remains of the Vietnamese volunteer soldiers is good humanitarian work and an expression of the will of the Cambodian people for the Vietnamese soldiers because they had sacrificed their lives in Cambodian territory in order to rescue and liberate our people from the Khmer Rouge,” Prakod said.

“Therefore, authorities at all levels and the armed forces, as well as the people in the province, must continue to cooperate and facilitate the search for the remains of the Vietnamese soldiers who lost their lives in Siem Reap and  repatriate them so they can be reunited with their families in their country,” he said.

Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) spokesman Major General Mao Phalla told Khmer Times that during the civil war in Cambodia, thousands of Vietnamese volunteer soldiers lost their lives in their mission to rescue the Cambodian people from the Khmer Rouge’s killing fields.

He added that Cambodians are still grateful to the Vietnamese soldiers for sacrificing their lives in Cambodia.

On June 21, the remains of 50 Cambodian soldiers, who died in Vietnam during the war 45 years ago, were repatriated from Vietnam to Cambodia. 


//END//

 


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