Bangkok Post
Postbag
During the last war in Vietnam, many Montagnard assisted the United States and its allies in fighting the Liberation Front and North Vietnamese Army and, in Laos, the Hmong assisted in the fight against the Pathet Lao.
The very youngest Montagnard and Hmong who participated in the conflicts would now be 50 years of age and of little threat to the present governments of both countries.
Why is it then that the governments of both the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic still oppress the descendants of those minority groups?
As a Vietnam veteran who spent 3.5 years involved in that war, I find the Vietnamese in general very willing to let bygones be bygones and to get on with life when relating to their former enemies, and it is rather a pity that some Vietnam veterans don't adopt the same attitude.
However, the forgiveness extended to American, Australian, New Zealand, Korean and Thai veterans of that conflict is not equally extended to their own minority groups, and that is a pity.
It has just been reported that on Dec 18, the Cambodian government deported another 22 Montagnard refugees from Cambodia because the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refused to grant them refugee status. They had fled Vietnam into Cambodia's Mondul Kiri province.
Vietnam's recent admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was on condition that they allow more religious freedom for their citizens and fairer treatment of their minority groups. Up until very recently, there have been credible reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament and other credible bodies, of the persecution of both countries' minority groups, including imprisonment and torture of forced returnees.
Is the UNHCR correctly monitoring, or being allowed to monitor, the treatment of forced Montagnard and Hmong returnees to Vietnam and Laos, respectively?
In agreements between the UNHCR and the governments of Vietnam and China, the senior UNHCR representative in each of those countries are now Vietnamese and Chinese citizens of those countries. Is this also the case with Laos?
One wonders how the Vietnamese senior UNHCR representative would fare if they reported mistreatment of forced returnees of Hmong? Could you expect an honest, unbiased report from such people?
Where there exists a requirement for UNHCR representatives at all levels, they should not be citizens of the country they are monitoring.
As well, they should not be young, inexperienced persons who qualify for the position simply because of their academic qualifications.
Barry Petersen
The very youngest Montagnard and Hmong who participated in the conflicts would now be 50 years of age and of little threat to the present governments of both countries.
Why is it then that the governments of both the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Lao People's Democratic Republic still oppress the descendants of those minority groups?
As a Vietnam veteran who spent 3.5 years involved in that war, I find the Vietnamese in general very willing to let bygones be bygones and to get on with life when relating to their former enemies, and it is rather a pity that some Vietnam veterans don't adopt the same attitude.
However, the forgiveness extended to American, Australian, New Zealand, Korean and Thai veterans of that conflict is not equally extended to their own minority groups, and that is a pity.
It has just been reported that on Dec 18, the Cambodian government deported another 22 Montagnard refugees from Cambodia because the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) refused to grant them refugee status. They had fled Vietnam into Cambodia's Mondul Kiri province.
Vietnam's recent admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was on condition that they allow more religious freedom for their citizens and fairer treatment of their minority groups. Up until very recently, there have been credible reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the European Parliament and other credible bodies, of the persecution of both countries' minority groups, including imprisonment and torture of forced returnees.
Is the UNHCR correctly monitoring, or being allowed to monitor, the treatment of forced Montagnard and Hmong returnees to Vietnam and Laos, respectively?
In agreements between the UNHCR and the governments of Vietnam and China, the senior UNHCR representative in each of those countries are now Vietnamese and Chinese citizens of those countries. Is this also the case with Laos?
One wonders how the Vietnamese senior UNHCR representative would fare if they reported mistreatment of forced returnees of Hmong? Could you expect an honest, unbiased report from such people?
Where there exists a requirement for UNHCR representatives at all levels, they should not be citizens of the country they are monitoring.
As well, they should not be young, inexperienced persons who qualify for the position simply because of their academic qualifications.
Barry Petersen
1 comment:
The Montagard made the mistake for converting into Christian!!!ahahah
Through out history it is the Christian that are being persecuted for everything!!!!
Post a Comment