Cultural looting still a persistent crisis in SE Asia

via Bangkok Post, 14 November 2022: Editorial on the problem of cultural looting across Asia and Southeast Asia.

On the national level, governments need to step up their efforts at policing and monitoring heritage sites for potential trouble. Cambodia has, for instance, made considerable efforts to protect its Angkor World Heritage Site against theft and looting.

Along with several international partners, the Cambodian government strives to provide regular trainings to museum workers, customs officials, police officers, teachers, students, journalists, and legal experts. In addition, the government has produced televised and printed public awareness-raising materials.

It was through this important and sustained effort that Cambodia became ready to introduce a major institutional reform. In 1994, acting with Unesco, Cambodia launched a Special Police Corps for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which holds the responsibility for inventorying cultural heritage objects and monitoring activities at antiquity retail venues, along with other preventive initiatives and partnerships.

Source: Cultural looting still a persistent crisis in SE Asia