Report of His Excellency SVAY SITHA
Under Secretary of State of the Office of the Council of Ministers
and General Secretary of the Council for the Demobilization
of Armed Forces at the Official Ceremony
Launching the First Full-Scale Demobilization Program
Kampong Chhnaing, 18 October, 2001
On behalf of the Council for the Demobilization of Armed Forces, in the name of the Chairman of the CDAF, His Excellency Senior Minister Sok An and in my own capacity as CDAF General Secretary, may I be permitted to respectfully present my report to Samdech Prime Minister HUN SEN, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen on the full-scale demobilization plan in the year 2001 and tasks in the coming years to achieve the target set by the Royal Government of Cambodia to downsize 3 1,500 soldiers over a period of three years.
Strong with the active support and sincere cooperation extended on the part of the Ministry of National Defence, the High Command of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, the RCAF Demobilization Commission and the Provincial Veteran Committees coupled with our regular consultation and discussion with the Donor Sub-Group on Demobilization, especially the very important inputs and recommendations provided by His Excellency Mr.Bonaventure Mbida-Essama who chairs the Donor Working Group and Chief of the World Bank Cambodia Resident Office as well as his staff, the CDAF General Secretariat has prepared a plan to demobilize 15,000 military personnel in this year 2001 on the basis of principle, mechanism and process as-follows.
I would like to inform Samdech Prime Minister and all participants in this ceremony that the 15,000 soldiers who will be demobilized during this first step are all serving in the 127 units of the RCAF of whom 1,359 are women, 3,010 belong to category 1,3,685 are chronically ill, 5,879 disabled and 2,326 elderly.
I would also like to report to you that according to the analysis on data from the registration of these would-be demobilized soldiers done last April, there will be 4 provinces and municipality where a large number of veterans may go and settle after the discharge such as Battambang where there are about 2,297 veterans who would settle, 1,753 to Siemreap, 1,063 to Phnom Penh and 1,023 to Odor Meanchey. Furthermore, the preliminary result of recent survey indicates that 32% of these 15,000 soldiers choose agriculture as their job preference after the discharge, 5% as carpenters, 5% as drivers, 5% as electronicians, 3% computer clerks and 29% other businesses.
Due to time constraints and the complicated issue of implementing the principle on the free choice of settlement place after discharge, the Council for the Demobilization of Armed Forces has adopted 2 major principles for this first full-scale demobilization:
Firstly is the Principle of Discharge by Military Region which means the CDAF General Secretariat agreed with the Demobilization Commission of the Ministry of National Defence to set up 10 discharge centers in 10 different provinces, namely Kampong Chhnaing, Kampong Speu and Kampong Cham, Kandal, Steung Treng, Kampot, Kampong Thom, Siemreap, Battambang and Banteay Meanchey.
Secondly is the Principle of Parallel Demobilization which means that 3 discharge centers will be parallely operational. For example, at a time when our today's ceremony is proceeding, the other two discharge also working to discharge the soldiers respectively.
With a view to ensure that this discharge operation be proceeded in an efficient, smooth, manageable, transparent and accountable manner, particularly on the basis of the implementation of the partnership principle, the CDAF has established 3 technical teams of the CDAF General Secretariat to undertake fire-demobilization in each discharge center with the participation of the three working groups of the Demobilization Commission of the Ministry of National Defence, the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Women and Veterans' Affairs, Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Health, especially the Provincial and Municipal Veteran Committees. Furthermore, the Cambodian Red Cross, the World Food Program of the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration, the Working Group on Weapons Reduction and the Human rights and Democracy Non-Governmental Organizations also actively join this operation, thus making a total work force of more than 300 staff.
This first full-scale reduction-in-force will last 80 days, meaning that the demobilization began from 15 October and will complete on 26 December, 2001. This discharge operation will be undertaken at 10 discharge centers and divided into 42 phases with each phase consumes 4 processing days.
During these 4 days in the discharge center, all demobilized soldiers will have to re-validate their credentials, fill the discharge forms, listen to the pre-discharge orientation on a number of topics such as the Cambodia Veteran Assistance Program,
Weapons Reduction, Civil Society, Human Rights, Democracy, Health Care, Gender. Moreover, all veterans are required to undergo the health screening and receive the Royal Government cash payment as well as the different assistance from the donor community including the selection the reintegration assistance packages.
Once we completed this first full-scale demobilization project, parallely with our ongoing delivery of different assistance planned under the reintegration program to the veterans in tenns of goods, equipment and services, the CDAF General Secretariat will continue to cooperate with all concerned institutions, in the first place with the Demobilization Commission of the Ministry of National Defence in order to prepare from March 2002, the next targets of 15,000 soldiers, all paperwork as well as the technical and financial aspect required for the implementation of the Second Full-Scale Demobilization Program tentatively scheduled to begin from the second semester of next year. By so doing, the Council for the Demobilization of Armed Forces will meet the objective set by the Royal Government of Cambodia to downsize 31,500 military personnel over a period of three years.
In conclusion, on behalf of the Council for the Demobilization of Armed Forces, allow me once again to express my most profound gratitude to Samdech Prime Minister and all distinguished Guests who are greatly honoring this function with your high presence, particularly this presence not only constitutes a great encouragement but also does warm the heart of all soldiers who will be leaving the army from today until the 26 of December, 2001 of whom, in front of Samdech Prime Minister and Members of the Presidium, 408 veterans are more than ready to voluntarily and proudly leave consecutively the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in order to settle as civilians in different communities across the Kingdom of Cambodia after having fulfilled their active, precious and successful services in the supreme interests of the nation and people within the framework of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
May I profoundly thank Samdech Prime Minister, Your Royal Highness, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen for your kind attention in listening to my report on the implementation of the first full-scale demobilization program and work plan for the year 2002.
Thank you