Over the past six months, authorities in Thailand have shot dead 38 people from neighboring Cambodia who illegally crossed the border to cut timber, according to a report from Agence France-Presse posted at the Bangkok Post.
The news website cited a report released by the Cambodia-Thailand Border Relations Office on Aug. 12. A further 10 Cambodians were injured, and 194 were arrested, though not all on suspicion of illegal logging.
The rate of these types of cross-border crimes is increasing; last year, 11 alleged illegal loggers from Cambodia were killed over a 12-month period, according statistics cited by to the human rights group ADHOC. A representative for the group blames the spike in deaths on the growing number of border residents willing to risk their lives to escape poverty.
The news website reported that the loggers routinely search for rosewood, which has a "strong demand in China and Vietnam." Cambodian officials have pleaded with counterparts in Thailand that the trespassers be arrested instead of shot, while those in Thailand say they are acting in self defense against armed loggers.
