Organization

APSARA National Authority

The APSARA National Authority (អាជ្ញាធរ"អប្សរា") is the Cambodian public body that protects and manages the Angkor park in Siem Reap province.[1]

A wide sheet of still water with bare dead trees standing in it and reflected on the surface, under a pale blue sky with a line of forest behind.
The Jayatataka Baray, one of the ancient reservoirs in the Angkor park, 2017. Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0

A royal decree set it up in 1995.[2] Its work covers the temples, the old water system, the forests and the villages that lie inside the park.[3] It works with UNESCO, the United Nations cultural and scientific agency, and with an international committee of donor countries.[1]

Founding

Royal decree NS/RKT/0295/12, dated February 19, 1995, created the authority.[2] Its full legal name is the National Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap. The decree made it a public institution with its own legal standing, administration and budget.[2] The Khmer title of the decree gives the short name as អាជ្ញាធរ"អប្សរា".[4]

UNESCO had placed Angkor on the World Heritage List in December 1992, at a meeting in Santa Fe. Cambodia's Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts says the authority was formed partly to meet one of the conditions of that listing.[3] In 2014 the Council of Ministers oversaw its technical work and the Ministry of Economy and Finance its budget.[5] Its offices are in Bang Korng village, Ampil commune, in Prasat Bakong district.[3]

Work in the Angkor park

UNESCO has said many times that the authority is responsible for the park.[1] The ministry lists its tasks as including the care of the old water system, the protection of forests, gardens and wildlife, and talks with the people who live in the park's old villages.[3]

Water is a large part of the work. The temples stand on sandy soil, and water held in the ground keeps that soil firm under their foundations. The authority has worked to refill the old reservoirs, called barays, along with the moats and canals, so that they feed the groundwater.[6] It also controls the flow of the Siem Reap River, moving fresh water from the upper river down through the town. A provincial spokesperson said in 2024 that it must hold water back to keep the temples sound.[7]

In 2014 the authority had a contract with a private company, Sokha, to run ticket sales for the Angkor complex.[5] In December 2024 the authority said that over its 30 years it had put first the welfare of the people of 112 villages, and that most of its staff, 74 percent, were local people from Angkor.[8]

The authority has also studied the Buddhist monasteries of the town. A study by Sen Set, prepared for it in 2014 and 2015, describes the 12 monasteries along the river through the town.[9]

UNESCO and the international committee

Donor countries and agencies coordinate their help for Angkor through the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Sites of Angkor, known as ICC-Angkor.[10][11] France and Japan share the cost of the committee.[1] On its website the authority says it has helped support ICC-Angkor since 2006.[10] It says it reports to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on a regular basis.[11] Angkor came off UNESCO's list of World Heritage in Danger in 2004.[12]

The authority's remit is Angkor. UNESCO names a separate body, the National Authority for Preah Vihear and Koh Ker, as the manager of the Koh Ker site.[13]

Moving families out of the park

In the last six months of 2022, Cambodia's authorities began moving families who lived inside the Angkor park to two sites outside it, Run Ta Ek and Peak Sneng.[14] Reports place Run Ta Ek about 20 to 30 kilometers (12 to 19 miles) from Angkor.[1][15]

The government and the authority say the moves were voluntary. A government spokesman called an Amnesty International report "not right" and said the families had moved by choice and in line with UNESCO rules.[15] The authority's spokesperson denied that families had been forced out.[12] CamboJA News gave figures in December 2023: 9,897 families had signed up to move and 4,730 had moved to Run Ta Ek. The same month the prime minister announced that Run Ta Ek would become a new city in Siem Reap province.[16] ICC-Angkor experts, in recommendations of 2017 and 2023, praised the authority's program to take down recent illegal buildings.[1]

Rights groups and UN experts call the moves forced evictions. In November 2023 Amnesty International, after interviews with more than 100 people, gave the number of families evicted as about 10,000. It said officials of the authority had pressed dozens of families to leave through repeated visits to their homes, and that Run Ta Ek lacked basic services.[14] UNESCO said it had never asked for, supported or taken part in the program.[15] In December 2024, United Nations special rapporteurs described the forced relocation of about 40,000 people. The authority rejected their report.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 VOD, Fiona Kelliher, Angkor Committee Experts Reiterate Congratulations Amid Eviction of Thousands (January 25, 2023)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Open Development Cambodia, Royal decree on the establishment of the National Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, named APSARA (February 19, 1995)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, APSARA National Authority (undated)
  4. ↑ Open Development Cambodia, Royal decree on the establishment of APSARA, Khmer text (February 19, 1995; in Khmer)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Radio Free Asia, Joshua Lipes, Angkor Wat Authority Defends Reported Ticket Revenues (December 29, 2014)
  6. ↑ Cambodianess, Researchers Advocate for Better Groundwater Use in Siem Reap (June 19, 2023)
  7. ↑ Cambodianess, Why is the Siem Reap River Polluted? (June 3, 2024)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Cambodianess, APSARA Authority Rejects UNHRC Report on Angkor Site (December 19, 2024)
  9. ↑ Cambodianess, Meet the 12 Pagodas Along the Siem Reap Stream (October 14, 2023)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 CamboJA News, Khuon Narim, Amid Allegations of Forced Evictions, Gov't Says Angkor Experts Praise Mass Relocation Sites (June 15, 2023)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cambodianess, Evictions Needed to Protect Angkor Value: APSARA (September 13, 2023)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 CamboJA News, Khuon Narim and Jack Brook, "No Choice": Forced Angkor Evictions Portrayed as Voluntary to UNESCO (April 4, 2023)
  13. ↑ UNESCO, The Role of Archives in World Heritage Management: Developing an Archival System for Koh Ker (November 8, 2024)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Amnesty International, Cambodia: Mass evictions at UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor violate international law (November 14, 2023)
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 VOA Khmer (AFP), Amnesty Accuses Cambodia over 'Forced Evictions' at Angkor Wat (November 14, 2023)
  16. ↑ CamboJA News, Khuon Narim, PM Hun Manet Declares Run Ta Ek As A New City in Siem Reap (December 8, 2023)


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This page was last edited on 9 October 2026, at 07:40.