Police Investigating Refugee ‘Trafficking’By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
09 May 2008
Police have begun an investigation into whether Montagnards from Vietnam are being trafficked to the UN refugee agency in Phnom Penh, authorities said Friday.
“There is no reason that Montagnards coming from the central plateau of Vietnam arrive at the camp of [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] in the center of Phnom Penh with no indication of support,” Ministry of Interior Khieu Sopheak said Friday. “The ministry is investigating, and if we find evidence like this, it is a human trafficking case, not a question for UNHCR.”
Cambodian law carries a 10 year prison sentence for human trafficking.
The local daily newspaper Rasmey Kampuchea carried a story Thursday in which an alleged Montagnard claimed to have been brought to Cambodia with promises of resettlement in a third country and, cheated instead, brought to UNHCR.
Toshi Kawauchi, protection officer at UNHCR told VOA Khmer he was unaware of the story, but he declined to comment on whether it constituted a threat to the organization.
“The investigation is up to the [Ministry of Information]. The police are responsible for any possible crime,” he said. “Our duty is to provide assistance to those refugees who are in need of international protection.”
Refugees from the mountains of Vietnam have been flowing into Cambodia since 2001, claiming they were escaping oppression by Vietnamese authorities. Nearly 2,000 have been admitted as refugees and settled in third countries, many to the US, angering Hanoi.
At least 600 others are under the protection of UNHCR in Phnom Penh.
“There is no reason that Montagnards coming from the central plateau of Vietnam arrive at the camp of [the UN High Commissioner for Refugees] in the center of Phnom Penh with no indication of support,” Ministry of Interior Khieu Sopheak said Friday. “The ministry is investigating, and if we find evidence like this, it is a human trafficking case, not a question for UNHCR.”
Cambodian law carries a 10 year prison sentence for human trafficking.
The local daily newspaper Rasmey Kampuchea carried a story Thursday in which an alleged Montagnard claimed to have been brought to Cambodia with promises of resettlement in a third country and, cheated instead, brought to UNHCR.
Toshi Kawauchi, protection officer at UNHCR told VOA Khmer he was unaware of the story, but he declined to comment on whether it constituted a threat to the organization.
“The investigation is up to the [Ministry of Information]. The police are responsible for any possible crime,” he said. “Our duty is to provide assistance to those refugees who are in need of international protection.”
Refugees from the mountains of Vietnam have been flowing into Cambodia since 2001, claiming they were escaping oppression by Vietnamese authorities. Nearly 2,000 have been admitted as refugees and settled in third countries, many to the US, angering Hanoi.
At least 600 others are under the protection of UNHCR in Phnom Penh.
5 comments:
Well, we did wow among our brother mekongers for better security for the region.
shut the fuck up mother fucker vit cong,Mieng cong6;32am
Phnom Penh government will go to Hell soon. Ah choymray Hun Sen forgot where he was born from. May be he was born from Ho Chi Minh shithole or from Ho Chi Minh's wife pussy. Montagnards are Khmer's brothers and sisters. They have been persecuted by that evils people every day so they can abandon their lands. These evils do the same tricks in Cambodia. If Khmers wake up too late, they and their country will go back to sleep forever...
NOT!!!
Don't be surprised Cambodia will be just another of one of viet's provinces ...as we see it cambodia today is controled by yuon.
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