When is Paris Peace Agreement Day?
Paris Peace Agreement Day is a public holiday in Cambodia observed on October 23rd each year.
From 2020, this holiday will be removed from the list of Public Holidays in Cambodia in a shake-up to reduce the number of holidays from 28 to 22.
History of Paris Peace Agreement Day
The despotic rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge had ravaged Cambodia since 1975. The Vietnamese invaded in 1978, as a response to border raids by the Khmer Rouge.
Though the Vietnamese helped overthrow the Khmer Rouge and end the genocide, the Cambodian regime that replaced the Khmer Rouge was seen as a puppet of the Vietnamese.
Several resistance groups were formed to wage an armed struggle against the Vietnamese, which would continue for the next 10 years. International pressure was put upon Vietnam to leave Cambodia, with the main international support for Vietnam came from the Soviet Union, which evaporated in 1991.
The Paris Peace Accord Day marks the agreements on a comprehensive political settlement of the Cambodia conflict signed by Cambodia and Vietnam in Paris, France on October 23rd 1991.
