Hun Sen appeals public not to discriminate disabled people

PHNOM PENH, Dec. 3 (Xinhua)-- Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen appealed Thursday to the public not to discriminate the disabled people at all forms, saying they are only disabled physically but not mentally.

At a ceremony to mark the 27th International Day of Disabled People, Hun Sen appealed that "We have to stop discriminating disabled people at all forms, and at the same time, the disabled people shall perform their good behaviors to the public."

Hun Sen said he had learned that some disabled had performed improper behaviors that jeopardize the honor of the whole disabled people nationwide.

Hun Sen also claimed himself as a disabled person as he had lost his left eye in the war in Cambodia in 1975, just days before the Khmer Rouge came to power.

He said that the 2008 figure showed that 1.4 percent of the country's 14 million population were disabled people, a mild decline from 2 percent in 1998.

Civil war, landmines, traffic accidents, and polio disease are the main causes of disability in the country.

Ith Samheng, Minister of Social Work, Youth Rehabilitation and Veterans said the government has established 11 vocational training centers and over 15,880 disabled people have been trained for specific skills.

Editor: Xiong Tong