US embassy cable - 04THEHAGUE3330

C O N F I D E N T I A L THE HAGUE 003330 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP AND EUR 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/22/2014 
TAGS: CB, KWMN, PGOV, PHUM, PREL, NL 
SUBJECT: NETHERLANDS/EU/CAMBODIA: DEMARCHE ON TRAFFICKING 
SCANDAL 
 
REF: STATE 269580 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Poloffs discussed reftel points December 21 with 
Eric Verwaal, Head of MFA's Southeast Asia and Oceania 
Department, and Hein Copper, desk officer.  Verwaal clarified 
that the Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok covers Cambodian 
issues since the Dutch have no Embassy in Phnom Penh. 
Verwaal was annoyed that the MFA in The Hague, representing 
the Presidency, had not cleared the statement issued by the 
UK Ambassador in Phnom Penh on behalf of EU Heads of Mission 
there.  Nevertheless, he said the statement was otherwise 
non-controversial and reflected Dutch Presidency views.  He 
was pleased it had been issued expediently following the 
event. 
 
2.  (C)  Verwaal said his office would get a briefing about 
the situation from the EU Heads of Mission in the field and 
would circulate results to all EU members.  He thought a 
"logical follow-up" might be an EU Troika visit to seek 
clarification from the Royal Government of Cambodia on the 
status of the investigation into the incident.  Verwaal 
pointed out that as the Dutch EU Presidency ends in two 
weeks, Luxembourg would take up the issue within the EU, 
although the British would likely follow the matter in the 
field as Luxembourg has no embassy in Cambodia either. 
 
3.  (U) Global Issues officer also shared points with MFA's 
Judicial and Police Cooperation Division, which handles TIP 
issues.  That Division forwarded the demarche language to the 
Netherlands Embassy in Bangkok.  Marjo Compvoets, Senior 
Policy Officer for TIP, appreciated the information and said 
she would work with Mr. Verwaal's office to respond. 
SOBEL