World indigenous people's day celebrated in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Approximately 1,000 Cambodian indigenous people gathered in the Kratie province of eastern Cambodia on Saturday to celebrate the World Indigenous People's Day.

This was the tenth consecutive year the country observed the day. Minister for Rural Development Chea Sophara presided over the celebration, which was hosted by a local organization, The NGO Forum on Cambodia.

"The celebration aims to enhance indigenous people's rights through public recognition and to raise people's general awareness of indigenous people's culture and issues in Cambodia," The NGO Forum on Cambodia said in a press statement.

"It also intends to foster indigenous people's chances to enhance their living while maintaining their identities and culture in a sustainable manner in accordance with national and international laws related to indigenous people," it said.

"Regardless of who they are, indigenous people deserve the rights to live as we do. They have their own cultures and tradition which have been existing for such a long period of them, " said Tek Vannara, executive director of The NGO Forum on Cambodia.

"I strongly hope that this international celebration could attract more attention from the government and development partners looking deeper into their problems."

During the event, different forms of indigenous people's traditional dances had been performed.

Besides the national event in Kratie, the International Day of the World Indigenous People was also simultaneously celebrated in three different locations in the provinces of Mondulkiri, Koh Kong and Preah Vihear.

According to the figures of the Ministry of Rural Development in 2011, there were estimated 203,000 indigenous people, or 1.4 percent, of Cambodia's total population.