Concern expressed over attacks on Kampuchean border camps.

"Serious concern at the armed attacks carried out by foreign forces against Kampuchean encampments in the border area" was expressed by a subsidiary body of the International Conference on Kampuchea on 17 January.

The Ad Hoc Committee of the Conference declared that the attacks "have imposed renewed suffering on the civilian population of the encampments and forced the evacuation to temporary sites inside Thailand of more than 100,000 Kampucheans. The attacks have also spilled over into Thai territory, thus leading to armed incidents which can only exacerbate the situation and make more difficult the efforts of the international community to reach a negotiated solution on the Kampuchean situation."

The Committee reiterated its call to the parties concerned to seek the creation of conditions necessary for constructive dialogue and to work for the achievement of a comprehensive political settlement of the Kampuchean problem.

The Committee was established by the Conference, when it met in New York in July 1981. The Conference called for negotiations on a cease-fire agreement, and for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Kampuchea under United Nations supervision. (Press Releases KAM/52-53)

In a statement on 27 December, Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar noted with growing concern the escalation of fighting on the border between Thailand and Kampuchea, which had caused further hardship and suffering to the displaced kampuchean population.

The Secretary-General appealed to all concerned to avoid endangering thousands of civilian lives and adding to the misery and deprivation which already afflicted those most unfortunate people. He remained convinced that a solution to the Kampuchean question could not be achieved through military means. Only a comprehensive political settlement in a process of genuine negotiation and mutual accommodation could bring lasting peace and stability to the region.

The Secretary-General asked his special Respresentative for the Coordination of Humanitarian Programmes Resulting from Developments in Kampuchea, Tatsuro Kunugi, to take every possible step to render relief and succour to those affected. (Press Release SG/SM/3644)

In a letter to Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar issued on 17 January, the President of Democratic Kampuchea, Prince Nordom Sihanouk, asked the Secretary-General to prevail upon Viet Nam to put an end to the frequent attacks which he said its army had mounted against the Khmer civilian population living in the refugee camps on the border between Kampuchea and Thailand. The civilian population had committed no crime against Viet Nam, Prince Sihanouk said. Rather, the criminal was Viet Nam, which was contemptuous of the United Nations, and which refused to comply with United Nations resolutions.

Prince Sihanouk also appealed to the "rich and liberal-minded countries throughout the world" to take a larger number of Khmer refugees eacy year. He said that the Government of Thailand had already done more for the refugees "than was ever imaginable". (A/40/89)

In a letter to the Secretary-General issued on 18 January, the Government of Viet Nam transmitted the text of a communique of the Tenth Conference of Foreign Ministers of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the People's Republic of Kampuchea and Viet Nam. The communique stated that the Conference had noted the view held by several ASEAN countries that the Kampuchea issue was not a problem between the ASEAN and Indochinese States, and welcomed the intention of several South-East Asian States to develop their bilateral relations with Viet Nam and Laos. The three countries reaffirmed their desire to solve their problems with Thailand through negotiations.

The three countries, the communique stated, supported the convening of an international conference to discuss all problems related to peace and stability in South-East Asia.