Community Statement for the October 15 U.S.–EU Roundtable on Cambodia 

We, representatives of the Khmer community worldwide, issue a statement ahead of the October 15 U.S.–EU Roundtable on Cambodia. It echoes the August 1, 2025 urgent appeal of over 100 Cambodian civil society organizations, reinforcing a unified call for international coordinated action.

This session comes at a pivotal time, as Cambodia faces escalating repression and cross-border incursions into its sovereignty by China, Vietnam, and most recently, Thailand. 

Held days before the anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, this roundtable offers a critical opportunity to reaffirm international commitments to Cambodia’s sovereignty and democracy. 

We urge international partners to act on two urgent priorities:  

1. Defend Sovereignty: Cambodia’s borders continue to be undermined by China’s direct military and economic encroachments and Vietnam’s expanding influence. The recent Thai–Cambodian border crisis reflects and intensifies this decades-long pattern of sovereignty erosion, highlighting the urgent need for coordinated international response. 

2. End Escalating Repression: The regime has erased political opposition, silenced media, and turned elections into hereditary appointments. Repression is intensifying, not as isolated incidents, but as part of a decades-long pattern that now crosses borders. From arrests of border critics, to the ongoing targeting of union leader Rong Chhun, to cross-border attacks including the assassination of opposition parliamentarian Lim Kimya and the forced return of exiled activists, the regime is escalating its campaign to silence dissent wherever it exists. 

A new major development that must be addressed is the regime’s shift into a more dangerous phase of political repression to silence dissent, dismantle civil society, and legitimize statelessness as a tool of persecution. 

For 45 years, the regime has allowed incursions to go unchallenged. With its legitimacy in question, it acts for survival, not national defense. We support targeted strategies that link aid, trade, and engagement to concrete improvements in human rights, democracy, and labor protections. 

Cambodia needs a government and an opposition party that are more protective of Cambodia's sovereignty and territorial interests. 

Defending Cambodia’s sovereignty and democracy is not only a Paris Peace Agreement commitment, it is essential to regional stability, labor market integrity, and the credibility of international partnerships.