Friendship Building to commemorate PM Hun Sen’s ‘Salvation Journey’

Bird’s-eye view of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Building in Tboung Khmum province, the location of the road marking where PM Hun Sen and comrades-in-arms fled to Vietnam 44 years ago. KT/Khem Sovannara

The Kingdom yesterday celebrated the 44th anniversary of the Commemoration Day of the Historical Journey Leading to the Overthrow of Pol Pot’s Genocide Regime with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Building near the Vietnamese border in Tboung Khmum province’s Koh Thmar village.

June 20 is a reminder of the role Prime Minister Hun Sen and his four allies, including Nuch Thorn and Va Por Ean, played in requesting assistance from the Vietnamese government in 1977 to oust Pol Pot’s regime.

With the support of Vietnamese troops, Phnom Penh was liberated on January 7, 1979. The retaking of the capital saw the Khmer Rouge leadership fleeing to the west along the Thai border as they continued to resist arrest against the forces of then-leader of the resistance movement Heng Samrin and Vietnamese troops.

In his message yesterday, Prime Minister Mr Hun Sen said he considers June 20 as the day he risked his life to liberate the Cambodian people from the hand of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge.

“I decided to painfully invest my life to liberate the Cambodian people from the genocidal regime of Pol Pot,” he said. “Although I and the Cambodian people are now enjoying happiness, I will never forget the tens of thousands drops of tears as I stepped out of the homeland, leaving the people who were suffering, especially my poor pregnant wife behind.”

He said that at that time he had no better choice because he could not ask for mercy from Pol Pot.

“It was that risky and tearful choice that had brought about happiness and progress (to the country) until now,” he added.

In an interview with Khmer Times yesterday, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia, Vu Quang Minh valued June 20 as the day to fight the “common enemies” of Pol Pot’s Democratic Kampuchea and other “aggressors”.

“We cherish this historic legacy that is the testimony of our traditional and time-tested friendship,” he said. “Our two nations were fighting side by side as brothers in arms in wartime for freedom and independence against common enemies such as the genocidal Khmer Rouge and other aggressors, and now are cooperating as trustful partners in national development.”

“It is important for us to celebrate this anniversary so that our younger generations know and understand the lessons of history and hence make sure the past tragedies never happen again, appreciate the sacrifices of their elder generations and strive to further nurture our friendship, trust and mutual beneficial cooperation,” Ambassador Vu added.

To commemorate the anniversary, Minister of Defence General Tea Banh and Vietnamese Minister of Defence Senior Lieutenant General Phan Văn Giang also presided over the ground-breaking ceremony for the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Building in Koh Thmar village of Memot district’s Tonlung commune.

According to Ambassador Vu, the Friendship Building is a gift of Vietnam to Cambodia.

“As I understand this will be a kind of a museum where all information and historical evidence, facts and stories… about the Salvation Journey shall be preserved and presented to current and future generations as a testimony of our Cambodia-Vietnam lasting friendship,” he said.

According to Cambodia’s Ministry of Defence, the Friendship Building is 18 metres wide, 63 metres long and two-floors high. It will cost $1,028,510, for which the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense provided funding for the construction.

On the Vietnam side yesterday, Binh Phuoc province also inaugurated a cluster of works commemorating Mr Hun Sen’s journey to liberate the country from the Khmer Rouge, at Thanh Tay hamlet, Loc Tan commune, Loc Ninh district.

The ceremony was attended by Gen Banh, Cambodian Ambassador to Vietnam Chay Navuth, Vietnamese Minister of Defence Lt Gen Phan Văn Giang, Secretary of Binh Phuoc Provincial Party Committee Nguyen Van Loi, among other senior officials from the two nations.

The cluster of works was started on May 8, 2021, including the following items: a souvenir stone at stop X16, weapons hiding place and the meeting point for the militia and Vietnamese people.

The museum exhibits images and artefacts related to Mr Hun Sen’s journey to save the country, according to a Vietnamese media report.

According to a pamphlet published by the Ministry of Defence in 2017, there is a reason why Koh Thmar is considered historically important.

“The night of June 20, 1977, in Koh Thmar, is a key point in Cambodia’s history,” the pamphlet said. “It is the day comrade Hun Sen began his journey that led to the overthrow of Pol Pot’s genocidal regime.”

The journey was full of risks. There were landmines, the threat of being jailed by the Vietnamese for crossing the border illegally and the danger of being viewed as a spy or being handed back to the Khmer Rouge.

The book says Mr Hun Sen looked back toward Cambodia with tears and emotionally recalled, “At the age of 13, I left my home town because there was no school where I could study and at 25 I fled my country because of butchers.”

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party spokesman Sok Eysan said June 20 is an unforgettable day for the Prime Minister.

“The Cambodian people will always remember June 20, the day that (Mr) Hun Sen and other associates left their homeland in search of a way to liberate the country and the people from the genocidal regime of Pol Pot,” he said. “It is a day of historical truth in liberating the nation from death.”

Eysan, who is also a senator, said June 20 is also a “meaningful day” for the survival of the Cambodian nation.

“Without June 20, there would be no December 2, (1978) and January 7, 1979, this is a true historical fact,” he added.

“December 20” is the founding day of the Solidarity Front for the Development of Cambodian Motherland (SFDCM), which paved the way for the overthrow of the Khmer Rouge regime and “January 7”, known as “Victory Day” – the day that SFDCM forces and Vietnamese volunteer troops captured the capital Phnom Penh and overthrew the Khmer Rouge regime.

“Asking for help from neighbouring Vietnam was timely and highly effective: the Cambodian people survived the genocide in time,” he said. “If we wait for the intervention of the West, countries that respect human rights, then maybe human rights in Cambodia are gone.” Khmer Times