Original report from Phnom Penh
01 August 2008
Police deported 32 Montagnards to Vietnam without incident Friday, following a protest at a similar deportation two weeks ago.
The 32 Montagnards, who had been denied refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, were quietly ushered onto a bus at a house in Phnom Penh's Tuol Kork district in the early morning Friday. The bus left the refugee compound as the sun rose.
Friday's operation was conducted without protest, following a street demonstration by Montagnards two weeks ago. During that deportation, armed intervention police were called in before negotiations with the protesters allowed the operation to continue.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the deportation was the result of a decision by UNHCR and Cambodian police, who found that the Mongtagnards did not qualify as refugees but were nevertheless seeking repatriation in a third country.
"They have no rights as refugees, so we have to carry out the immigration law of Cambodia," Khieu Sopheak said. "They must be deported to their country, Vietnam."
The policy of the Vietnam government is to allow the Montagnards to return to their homes and work and make business "as usual," Vietanm Embassy spokesman Trinh Ba Cam said Friday.
The Montagnards remained simple people, he said, as they had been when they came to Cambodia.
"They will not be accused of doing something, or mistreated by Vietnamese authorities," he said.
A US Embassy spokesman said Friday the US continues to monitor the security and protection of the Montagnards.
"Embassy officials observe repatriations from the UNHCR sites to ensure that the departures are conducted in accordance with UNHCR and Cambodian procedures," the spokesman, John Johnson, said in an e-mail.
US State Department missions in Vietnam have "determined that many Montagnards making the dangerous cross-border journey to Cambodia are doing so motivated by economic factors, rather than fear of persecution," Johnson said.
The 32 Montagnards, who had been denied refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, were quietly ushered onto a bus at a house in Phnom Penh's Tuol Kork district in the early morning Friday. The bus left the refugee compound as the sun rose.
Friday's operation was conducted without protest, following a street demonstration by Montagnards two weeks ago. During that deportation, armed intervention police were called in before negotiations with the protesters allowed the operation to continue.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said the deportation was the result of a decision by UNHCR and Cambodian police, who found that the Mongtagnards did not qualify as refugees but were nevertheless seeking repatriation in a third country.
"They have no rights as refugees, so we have to carry out the immigration law of Cambodia," Khieu Sopheak said. "They must be deported to their country, Vietnam."
The policy of the Vietnam government is to allow the Montagnards to return to their homes and work and make business "as usual," Vietanm Embassy spokesman Trinh Ba Cam said Friday.
The Montagnards remained simple people, he said, as they had been when they came to Cambodia.
"They will not be accused of doing something, or mistreated by Vietnamese authorities," he said.
A US Embassy spokesman said Friday the US continues to monitor the security and protection of the Montagnards.
"Embassy officials observe repatriations from the UNHCR sites to ensure that the departures are conducted in accordance with UNHCR and Cambodian procedures," the spokesman, John Johnson, said in an e-mail.
US State Department missions in Vietnam have "determined that many Montagnards making the dangerous cross-border journey to Cambodia are doing so motivated by economic factors, rather than fear of persecution," Johnson said.
5 comments:
And Why the mother fucker ah Sok Kong can stay in Cambodia????
"Khieu Sopheak said the deportation was the result of a decision by UNHCR and Cambodian police."
= Is it fair to have Cambodian Vietcong puppet government to make humanitarian decision on who should be deported or not? The fact is the fucken Cambodian Vietcong slave puppet government is dying to please the Vietcong puppet government in anyway they can and to add fuel to the fire the fucken UNHCR even go along with the Cambodian Vietcong puppet government decision to deport helpless Mongtagnard people!
What happen to all the right for Cambodia as a nation to protect those unfortunate people who are fleeing from persecution? I hope when AH Khieu Sopheak or his family is fleeing from persecution and they all deserve to deport the same way!
How about the millions of illegal vietnamese currently in Cambodia, Will the CPP government identify them and send them back to Vietnam as well?
They should carry this "immigration law of Cambodia" to the full, not bias by applying the rule to favor of a particular party or state like the election....
The bias of the CPP immigration law of Cambodia seem only addresses "selective group like the Mongtagnards" ethnic Khmer krom people,
Not illegal Vietnames (youn) in Cambodia...who is sucking away Khmer jobs, natural resources, adding more pressure to infrastructure such as our public system (if any left) and creating more pollution's (waste/garbage).
The same boarder issue with Thailand should also address with Vietnam who is already occupying Cambodia's territory and already sending it's people to live in Cambodia soil illegally.
Vietnam should remove itself from occupying Cambodia's territory, sea and islands. If not the Cambodian people as a group should sue the Vietnamese government in the UN International court.
What are the qualifications to be considered as refugee?!!
Where can we find references to Cambodian immigration laws?
Trojeakjett,
Those montagnards are not khmer krom.They are the hill tribe mountain in central Vietnam.These people love to smoke opium and eat weird stuff.All their teeth are black so deport them back to Vietnam is the right thing to do.
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