Two Cambodian activists and a former political prisoner have been arrested in Thailand ahead of a visit next week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The arrests are the latest example of the Cambodian government exercising its influence across borders, they told Radio Free Asia (RFA).
Kung Raiya, who has been jailed twice for activities against the government, was caught in an immigration roundup at an apartment complex in Bangkok, RFA reported. Also arrested were senior Candlelight Party member Loem Sokha and opposition activist Phan Phana, who was taken from his home in Rayong.
The three had recently fled to Thailand to seek asylum and had been granted refugee status, according to Phan Phana, who has ties to the Cambodia Youth Network.
They had planned to hold a protest rally on Wednesday when Prime Minister Hun Manet is scheduled to arrive for an official visit and talks with his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin.
“I am afraid that I will be deported back to Cambodia,” Phan Phana told RFA Khmer before his phone was confiscated. “The [ruling Cambodian People’s Party] were behind this arrest because the police are asking for details about other activists.”
RFA said it was not able to reach a Cambodian government spokesman for comment on the arrests.
Kung Raiya said Thai police worked with the Cambodian government to arrest him because he had criticised Hun Manet, who became Cambodia’s prime minister after his father, longtime leader Hun Sen, stepped down in August.
“The government was angry so I got arrested,” he said, explaining that Thai police might have known his location by tapping his phone or tracking him on the internet.
Fellow Candlelight Party activist Khem Monykosal, who is also seeking asylum in Thailand, told RFA that the three activists were being held in the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok.
“The situation is tense now. Police are patrolling buildings,” said Khem Monykosal. “If we go down there, they will arrest us. I beg the Thai government to give more consideration to refugee rights and stop harming us.”
Dozens of pro-democracy Cambodian activists have fled to Thailand to seek asylum in recent years as the ruling CPP has used intimidation and the courts to neutralise the political opposition.
On Dec 29, Thai authorities arrested 10 Cambodian refugees who were attending a Paris Peace Agreement course in Bangkok. Three were later released but seven others were still being held in immigration detention two weeks later, according to CamboJA News, a service operated by the Cambodian Journalists Federation. Their current status is not known.
A total of 40 participants had been taking part in the course, including Cambodian workers in Thailand, activists of the now-defunct Cambodian National Rescue Party, Candlelight Party supporters and Khmer Krom refugees.
When police arrived at the meeting and asked to check documents, they arrested 10 people who held ID cards provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said CamboJa News.
The Cambodian government has accused them of attempting to overthrow the government while Thai police have accused them of entering the country illegally.