On Thursday, US collectors and museums brought back a number of stolen Buddhist and Hindu monuments, which Cambodia welcomed.
The kingdom and US officials have collaborated closely in recent years to get the restitution of hundreds of priceless cultural treasures, many of which were pilfered and exported without authorization.
The most recent return of 70 Khmer artifacts includes a bronze head and stone figurines of the gods Shiva and Uma, as well as a mythical warrior from the Hindu epic Mahabharata.
Hun Manet, the prime minister of Cambodia, oversaw the welcoming ceremony for the goods.
“The artifacts we have reclaimed are invaluable as national cultural heritage for the Cambodian people, the real owners,” he stated.
Culture and fine arts minister Phoeurng Sackona said a significant portion of Cambodian cultural heritage had been repatriated over the past five years through a series of negotiations, court cases and voluntary returns.
Thousands of antiques were seized and sold to wealthy purchasers and museums in Europe and the US through dealers in Thailand and Hong Kong during the 1970s, when the Khmer Rouge rule decimated the country with civil warfare and genocide.
A large portion of the trade in Cambodian relics was attributed to the late British antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford.
In 2020, while facing charges of art trafficking in the US, he passed away. His family collaborated with law enforcement to assist in the repatriation of numerous Khmer antiques.
