By Douglas Gillison
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
A total of 15 Montagnard asylum seekers have crossed from Vietnam into the jungles of Ratanakkiri province and are awaiting assistance from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, a representative for local rights group Adhoc said Tuesday.
The arrival of the asylum seekers comes as the US on Monday removed Vietnam from its annual listing of countries where it believes severe violations of religious freedom occur.
Religious persecution is one of the reasons often cited by Montagnards, many of whom are Christian, for fleeing to Cambodia.
Details about the 15, which include five female and 10 male adults, remain scarce but the Montagnards are believed to have crossed the border Saturday, said Pen Bonnar, Adhoc's provincial coordinator.
"The people who get information from the Montagnards told me there are 15 Montagnards who crossed the border," Pen Bonnar said, adding that the group, from Vietnam's Dak Lak province, are believed to be in good health.
UNHCR spokeswoman Deborah Backus said her organization was aware of the reported new arrivals and has submitted a request to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to retrieve the asylum seekers.
Long Visalo, secretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that he was too busy to speak to a reporter.
On Monday, John Hanford, US ambassador at large for international religious freedom, announced in Washington, that Vietnam was the first country ever to be removed from the list for heeding US concerns.
Vietnam first appeared on the US Designations of Countries of Particular Concern for Severe Violations of Religious Freedom in 2004. Uzbekistan was added this week to the US list, which also includes Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
"Four years ago, when I was appointed ambassador at large, tens of thousands of people, entire villages in some cases, were being rounded up and pressured to renounce their faith," Hanford said of Vietnam in remarks to the press.
The improvements Hanford cited included the release of prisoners jailed for their religious beliefs, a prohibition on forced recantations, clarification of the government's policies on religion and a freer climate for worship and assembly.
Hanford denied that the change was at all related to US President George W Bush's plan to attend this weekend's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi.
In a June report on Montagnards in Vietnam, Human Rights Watch called on the US to continue Vietnam's designation on the religious violations list "until substantial progress is made."
"There have been some small improvements but we feel strongly that it's not enough," a Rights Watch representative said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. "More than 350 Montagnard Christians remain in prison, many of them for wanting to practice their religion outside of government control."
The organization continues to receive reports of forced recantations and arbitrary arrests, the representative said.
"Removing Vietnam from the Countries of Particular Concern list does not mean that violations of religious freedom have ceased altogether," US embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle wrote in an e-mail.
"Vietnam has committed to work with the US to advance religious freedom and we will continue to press for additional progress."
The arrival of the asylum seekers comes as the US on Monday removed Vietnam from its annual listing of countries where it believes severe violations of religious freedom occur.
Religious persecution is one of the reasons often cited by Montagnards, many of whom are Christian, for fleeing to Cambodia.
Details about the 15, which include five female and 10 male adults, remain scarce but the Montagnards are believed to have crossed the border Saturday, said Pen Bonnar, Adhoc's provincial coordinator.
"The people who get information from the Montagnards told me there are 15 Montagnards who crossed the border," Pen Bonnar said, adding that the group, from Vietnam's Dak Lak province, are believed to be in good health.
UNHCR spokeswoman Deborah Backus said her organization was aware of the reported new arrivals and has submitted a request to the Foreign Affairs Ministry to retrieve the asylum seekers.
Long Visalo, secretary of state at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said that he was too busy to speak to a reporter.
On Monday, John Hanford, US ambassador at large for international religious freedom, announced in Washington, that Vietnam was the first country ever to be removed from the list for heeding US concerns.
Vietnam first appeared on the US Designations of Countries of Particular Concern for Severe Violations of Religious Freedom in 2004. Uzbekistan was added this week to the US list, which also includes Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.
"Four years ago, when I was appointed ambassador at large, tens of thousands of people, entire villages in some cases, were being rounded up and pressured to renounce their faith," Hanford said of Vietnam in remarks to the press.
The improvements Hanford cited included the release of prisoners jailed for their religious beliefs, a prohibition on forced recantations, clarification of the government's policies on religion and a freer climate for worship and assembly.
Hanford denied that the change was at all related to US President George W Bush's plan to attend this weekend's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi.
In a June report on Montagnards in Vietnam, Human Rights Watch called on the US to continue Vietnam's designation on the religious violations list "until substantial progress is made."
"There have been some small improvements but we feel strongly that it's not enough," a Rights Watch representative said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. "More than 350 Montagnard Christians remain in prison, many of them for wanting to practice their religion outside of government control."
The organization continues to receive reports of forced recantations and arbitrary arrests, the representative said.
"Removing Vietnam from the Countries of Particular Concern list does not mean that violations of religious freedom have ceased altogether," US embassy spokesman Jeff Daigle wrote in an e-mail.
"Vietnam has committed to work with the US to advance religious freedom and we will continue to press for additional progress."
1 comment:
HI KI-MEDIA AND ALL !
AFTER ONE WEEK OF TENSE AND RUDE DISCUSSION BETWEEN " THE PATRIOT & OWN SHADOW", OUR SURVEY CAME TO A FINAL CONCLUSION AS FOLLOWS:
1- ON KI-MEDIA PROFESSIONALISM OF CREATING AND REPORTING ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA:
-(i)FIRSTLY, YOUR REPORTS ARE RELEVANT AND CONFORM WHAT HAS BEEN WRITTEN IN THE PRESS ABOUT CAMBODIA POLITICS. THAT IS GOOD FOR ALL OF US KHMER LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE MOTHERLAND.
-(ii)IN YOUR TITLE IN ORANGE, YOU INTENDED TO SHOW YOUR POLITICAL PARTY' S CHOICE. IT IS NOT A PROBLEM BECAUSE FREEDOM OF BELIEF AND IT IS YOUR POLITICAL RIGHT TO SUPORT MR. SAM RAINSY' S PARTY.
-(iii) IN ORDER TO BE MORE PROFESSIONAL IN THE NET, IS KI-MEDIA LOOKING FOR A NEW DIRECTION?
2- ON KI-MEDIA READERS AND SUPPORTERS:
(i) WE CONCLUDED THAT MOST OF THE READERS AND SUPPORTERS LIVE ABROAD:US, AUSTRALIA, CANADA ETC...
(ii) DURING OUR ONE WEEK SURVEY, WE USED STRONG LANGUAGES AND WE APOLOGY IF WE MAY OFFENCE BUT IT WAS PURELY INTEND TO TEST THE WATER AND GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE KNOWLEDGE, EDUCATION AND CULTURE OF ALL OF US.
(iii) THE SURVEY SHOWS THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES OF READERS:
- THE FIRST GROUP OF READERS ARE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR COMMENTS, VERY POLITE AND BALANCED VIEWS: THEY ARE CULTIVATED AND EDUCATED... BRAVO!
THEIR VIEWS COULD BE AS A LESSON FOR ALL AND THE SAKE OF THE COUNTRY. THEY ARE BRAVE AND PATRIOTIC. CAMBODIA IS PROUD OF THEM!!!!
- THE SECOND GROUP OF READERS ARE MORE OR LESS PATHETIC ABOUT GIVING COMMENTS ABOUT POLITICS IN CAMBODIA: TOO MUCH PASSION OF HATE BECAUSE OF POLITICS AND NOT ENOUGH MATURITY, EDUCATION, KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE. THEY MUST LEARN ABOUT THE SOCIAL WAY OF BEING A RESPECTABLE KHMER WITH OUR OWN WAY OF SAVOIR-VIVRE, OF COURTESY AND KINDNESS. PLEASE TRY TO FORGET ABOUT THE NEGATIVE ASPECT OF LIFE ABROAD AND GET MORE IN CONTACT WITH THE PREACHING AND LEARNING OF BUDDHISM. YOU WILL BE MORE RESPECTFUL BY YOUR OWN ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY.
IN CONCLUSION, WE AGAIN APOLOGY FOR THE ONE WEEK SURVEY THAT WE CONCLUDED RIGHT NOW.
LONG LIVE TO CAMBODIA AND CAMBODIAN LIVING INSIDE OR OUTSIDE!
STRONG LINKS AND BONDS OF SOLIDARITY BETWEEN KHMER AND KHMER!
MUTUAL RESPECT FOR THE SAKE OF THE MOTHERLAND!
THANK YOU FOR READING US! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO AGREE OR DISAGREE, OR TO INSULT. THIS IS JUST A SURVEY!!!!!!!
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