30th Anniversary of Japan’s PKO in Cambodia to be Commemorated This Year

Prime Minister Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen this morning congratulated the 30th anniversary of Japan’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) in Cambodia in the early 1990s.

Addressing to the inauguration ceremony of the Battambang-Serey Sophorn road portion of nearly 85 kilometres long, Samdech Techo Hun Sen expressed profound thanks to Japan for its contribution to the peace negotiation process in the 1980s, and the first Japan’s PKO mission in Cambodia in the 1990s.

The Premier also extended his sincere condolences to the two-Japanese nationals who have sacrificed their lives in Cambodia.

“2022 is the 30th anniversary of Japan’s PKO in Cambodia, we should organise some special activities to commemorate this historical event,” he underlined, mentioning about the upcoming docking of Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force ship in Cambodia.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen also took the opportunity to thank the Japanese people and government for their active contribution to the development of Cambodia.

Personnel of the Japan Self-Defence Forces were dispatched to UNTAC as cease-fire observers. Eight personnel were dispatched from September 1992 to March 1993; a second contingent of eight personnel was dispatched from March to September 1993. They conducted their duties in teams with peacekeepers from other countries. Their mission was to monitor the cease-fire and to supervise encampments storing weapons collected from disarmed Cambodian soldiers of all factions. They also monitored the cease-fire at checkpoints along the border and monitored any infiltration of other forces and smuggling of weapons and ammunition. Besides there were civilian police officers, engineering contingents, and so on.

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press