US to provide $45 million to help implement Cambodian-Thai accords

Jan 9 (Reuters) – The United States will provide $45 million in assistance to Cambodia and Thailand, the senior U.S. diplomat for East Asia said on Friday during a visit to the region, to help solidify President Donald Trump’s peace-making efforts between the two.

“The United States will continue to support the Cambodian and Thai governments as they implement the Kuala Lumpur Peace Accords and pave the way for a return to peace, prosperity, and stability for their people and the region,” Michael DeSombre, the U.S. assistant secretary for East Asia, said in a statement.

A senior State Department official said DeSombre would meet senior Thai and Cambodian officials in Bangkok and Phnom Penh on Friday and Saturday to discuss implementation of the peace accords “and broader efforts to promote our shared interests in a safer, stronger and more prosperous Indo-Pacific.”

DeSombre said the United States, which has slashed its global foreign assistance programs under Trump, would provide $15 million for border stabilization to help communities recover and to support people displaced by the recent conflict, and $10 million for demining and clearing of unexploded ordnance.

The U.S. would also provide $20 million for initiatives that will help Cambodia and Thailand combat scam operations and drug trafficking, and other programs, DeSombre said.

The Trump administration has made combating the so-called scam centers based in Southeast Asia a priority, as U.S. citizens have been targeted by their financial fraud operations.

Border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand flared up again last month after the collapse of a previous ceasefire deal brokered in July by Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to end a previous round of conflict.

The Southeast Asian neighbors agreed on another ceasefire at the end of last year, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides. The more recent clashes included fighter-jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages.

Thailand is a long-time U.S. ally, while the United States has sought to improve relations with Cambodia to try to woo it away from strategic rival China.