Updated 19 March 2014, 14:23 AEST ABC Radio Australia:
Cambodia's Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has denied fomenting hatred towards ethnic Vietnamese in his country.
Sam Rainsy blames corruption for illegal Vietnamese migration (Credit: ABC)
The Cambodian opposition often points to Prime Minister Hun Sen's links to Hanoi.
Hun Sen was part of the first government installed in Phnom Penh after the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party has ruled Cambodia ever since.
Sam Rainsy, who's in Australia to meet with political and community leaders, says recent attacks on Vietnamese businesses were isolated incidents.
He blames the tension on official corruption which he says encourages illegal migration from neighbouring Vietnam.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Sam Rainsy, Cambodian Opposition leader and President, Cambodia National Rescue Party, CNRP
RAINSY: We are like Australia, we are like the US, European countries. We want to uphold the rule of law with regards to immigration. We have to fight against illegal immigration, and because you want to fight against illegal immigration, you just want to defend the interest of your country, but you are by no way racist. You cannot say that Australians are racist, because they want ...?
LAM: But Australians don't go attacking other people's shops just because they're from a different nationality?
RAINSY: No, (the attacks on Vietnamese) are very isolated incidents.
Look at the Palestinians, the Palestinians they are very concerned about Jewish settlers in Palestine, so they are fighting for the survival of their homeland, so any Cambodian government must uphold the rule of law and deal with problems at their roots, the real cause of the problem, which is the frustration of the people, because of illegal immigration or because of corruption.
For instance, in Cambodia, any immigrant or potential immigrant can buy Cambodian nationality for just 20 dollars. (Imagine) If you can buy Australian citizenship for $20, you will see what would happen and how the Australian people would feel.
LAM: So are you saying that some of these small Vietnamese businesses that were attacked in Cambodia in recent months, that they were there illegally, they're not real Cambodian citizens?
RAINSY: Cambodia has a tradition of violence and of impunity.
Since the Khmer Rouge killed two million people, the present leaders who are former Khmer Rouge, they continue to kill a lot of people without being investigated. So it's the total impunity, so this is a climate of violence.
When thousands of Cambodians die of violence, especially political violence, nobody says anything, but when there is any isolated incident related to other people, you point the finger. Things have to seen in the general context, its the context of violence and impunity. So we have to defend the human rights of everybody, regardless of their social, political or ethnic background.
LAM: But the Cambodian Opposition, the CNRP, does have the reputation of being anti-Vietnam. If you should get into government, will you engage the Vietnamese authorities, the Vietnamese regime?
RAINSY: We want to make sure that we have good relations with everybody.
Our model the European Union. We want to follow the example of reconciliation between France and Germany. Those two countries had been at war against each other for centuries, but eventually, they achieved reconciliation and worked together for peace and common prosperity.
This is our vision for a new ASEAN in South East Asia.
LAM: How long does the Opposition, the CNRP, plan to boycott the Cambodian Parliament for?
RAINSY: We don't want to give any legitimacy to the illegitimate and the illegal government. We are very grateful to the Australian Senate and other institutions from other countries, calling for an investigation into the irregularities which have marred the last election and distorted the will of the Cambodian people.
We call for a new election, a democratic election, after the reform, after the required reform of the electoral commission
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