By Douglas Gillison and Phann Ana
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Fifty-four Montagnard asylum seekers have crossed into Ratanakkiri and Mondolkiri provinces from Vietnam in recent weeks, hoping to be assisted by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, officials and a villager said Monday.
A group of 16 Montagnards crossed into Ratanakkiri province's Andong Meas district Saturday, and a group of 11 arrived in neighboring O’Yadaw district about two weeks ago, Adhoc provincial coordinator Pen Bonnar said.
Few details about the 27 were available, and Pen Bonnar declined to reveal the asylum seekers' whereabouts to protect their safety.
"When I tell the newspaper, the police come and find them to arrest them," he said.
Another group of 27 Montagnards, some suffering from malaria crossed from Vietnam's Dak Lak province on Aug 20 and are hiding outside Mondolkiri's provincial capital Sen Monorom awaiting assistance from UNHCR, villagers and NGO workers said.
A worker with a local NGO who declined to be named said Friday that the group included eight men, 11 women and eight children.
"There really are refugees here," said Sam Sarin, Adhoc provincial coordinator for Mondolkiri. Two of the children may be sick with malaria, Sam Sarin said.
A villager who declined to be named said Friday that he had met with the refugees and that one was seriously ill, possibly with malaria.
UNHCR spokeswoman Deborah Backus said a joint mission with Cambodian officials was currently in Ratanakkiri province to retrieve the asylum seekers.
The agency is aware of reports that asylum seekers have crossed into Mondolkiri province, but no decision has been made on a mission to that province, she said.
The UNHCR announced last week that it had agreed with both the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments to continue cooperating under a 2005 agreement to resettle or repatriate Montagnards who flee to Cambodia.
At the Aug 21 meeting in Phnom Penh, there was no discussion of altering the agreement despite severe criticism of the agreement from rights groups, Backus said.
"It was a technical meeting between the three parties discussing the logistics of the agreement," she said. "It wasn't a meeting to discuss changes to the [memorandum of understanding]."
Human Rights Watch in June said the agreement allowed for forced repatriations and lacked monitoring of the living conditions of those who returned to Vietnam.
A group of 16 Montagnards crossed into Ratanakkiri province's Andong Meas district Saturday, and a group of 11 arrived in neighboring O’Yadaw district about two weeks ago, Adhoc provincial coordinator Pen Bonnar said.
Few details about the 27 were available, and Pen Bonnar declined to reveal the asylum seekers' whereabouts to protect their safety.
"When I tell the newspaper, the police come and find them to arrest them," he said.
Another group of 27 Montagnards, some suffering from malaria crossed from Vietnam's Dak Lak province on Aug 20 and are hiding outside Mondolkiri's provincial capital Sen Monorom awaiting assistance from UNHCR, villagers and NGO workers said.
A worker with a local NGO who declined to be named said Friday that the group included eight men, 11 women and eight children.
"There really are refugees here," said Sam Sarin, Adhoc provincial coordinator for Mondolkiri. Two of the children may be sick with malaria, Sam Sarin said.
A villager who declined to be named said Friday that he had met with the refugees and that one was seriously ill, possibly with malaria.
UNHCR spokeswoman Deborah Backus said a joint mission with Cambodian officials was currently in Ratanakkiri province to retrieve the asylum seekers.
The agency is aware of reports that asylum seekers have crossed into Mondolkiri province, but no decision has been made on a mission to that province, she said.
The UNHCR announced last week that it had agreed with both the Cambodian and Vietnamese governments to continue cooperating under a 2005 agreement to resettle or repatriate Montagnards who flee to Cambodia.
At the Aug 21 meeting in Phnom Penh, there was no discussion of altering the agreement despite severe criticism of the agreement from rights groups, Backus said.
"It was a technical meeting between the three parties discussing the logistics of the agreement," she said. "It wasn't a meeting to discuss changes to the [memorandum of understanding]."
Human Rights Watch in June said the agreement allowed for forced repatriations and lacked monitoring of the living conditions of those who returned to Vietnam.
1 comment:
Save these helpless people God damn it!
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