The Nation
After refusing to extradite a wanted fugitive back to Thailand, Hun Sen gladly sends asylum seekers back to China to face trial
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was quick to send back a group of 20 Uighur asylum seekers who have been staying in Cambodia waiting for the approval of the UN High Commission for Refugees. The Cambodian authorities said that they entered the country illegally, so they had to be deported back to China according to domestic laws. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union as well as international humanitarian organisations have urged the Cambodian government not to do so. Unfortunately, their plea fell on deaf ears - Hun Sen's.
It is hoped that Thailand will not embrace the selfishness and short-sightedness of Phnom Penh when it comes to the handling of Lao Hmong refugees. Many have been given the UN's People of Concern (POC) status because it is feared the Vientiane government will prosecute them if they are returned. Moreover, said one senior American official, there is growing concern in the US about the issue of forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees by the Thai government.
The US is also inquiring about 4,200 Lao Hmong in Petchabun living under the watchful eye of the military-run Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), as well as 158 Hmong in Nong Khai with POC status.
It would be a grave mistake for Thailand to forcibly repatriate people who merit protection. If not for the sake of human rights, Thailand needs to think about its standing in the international community.
Besides the moral aspect of the decision, Thailand should also take into consideration the long history of working relations with the US over refugee issues. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent over the past few decades to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees who have come through Thailand to resettle in the US. This should count for something.
The government has been sending out conflicting signals when it comes to the issue of Hmong refugees. But the international community can do its part, too, by stating clearly how many Hmong refugees they are willing to receive. A clearer policy could help move the issue towards some sort of solution.
China, on the other hand, has handed down 17 death sentences to Uighurs for their role in the July violence in the far-western Xinjiang province between local Uighurs and migrant Han Chinese. Some countries including the US have refused to send back Uighurs released from Guantanamo Bay detention camp for fear that they will suffer similar retribution.
The controversial decision by Hun Sen came ahead of the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jin-ping to Phnom Penh on Monday. The two countries signed 14 bilateral agreements worth more than US$1.2 billion (Bt40 billion) in aid and loans to Cambodia. In the past decade, China has emerged as Cambodia's largest donor. In the past, Cambodia relied on a consortium of assistance from the international community, which imposed very strict conditions. Beijing's aid has no strings attached.
In less than a decade, Beijing has been able to turn the anti-Chinese and anti-Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh government into a close friend, after nearly two decades of adversarial relations. Hun Sen has been behind the U-turn, switching to China after reducing investment from Taiwan, which was present in Cambodia in the early 1990s.
These days, Chinese entrepreneurs and all things Chinese are common sights throughout Cambodia. The Chinese language is a popular choice among students. In the past few years, China has provided hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assistance to the once war-torn country.
Cambodia has been able to use the Chinese presence as a counter to the Vietnamese dominance that prevailed after the Vietnamese army ousted the Khmer Rouge and occupied Cambodia in 1979. But China had close relations with Cambodia under the former King Norodom Sihanouk, who now resides in Beijing. Under the king, the country maintained a policy of strict neutrality.
Relations between Cambodia and China have increasingly become closer and more strategic, with major investments pouring in from state-run Chinese companies in Cambodian real estate and arable land. More than 50,000 Chinese currently live in Phnom Penh and other parts of the country, and that figure is only likely to increase.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was quick to send back a group of 20 Uighur asylum seekers who have been staying in Cambodia waiting for the approval of the UN High Commission for Refugees. The Cambodian authorities said that they entered the country illegally, so they had to be deported back to China according to domestic laws. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union as well as international humanitarian organisations have urged the Cambodian government not to do so. Unfortunately, their plea fell on deaf ears - Hun Sen's.
It is hoped that Thailand will not embrace the selfishness and short-sightedness of Phnom Penh when it comes to the handling of Lao Hmong refugees. Many have been given the UN's People of Concern (POC) status because it is feared the Vientiane government will prosecute them if they are returned. Moreover, said one senior American official, there is growing concern in the US about the issue of forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees by the Thai government.
The US is also inquiring about 4,200 Lao Hmong in Petchabun living under the watchful eye of the military-run Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc), as well as 158 Hmong in Nong Khai with POC status.
It would be a grave mistake for Thailand to forcibly repatriate people who merit protection. If not for the sake of human rights, Thailand needs to think about its standing in the international community.
Besides the moral aspect of the decision, Thailand should also take into consideration the long history of working relations with the US over refugee issues. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent over the past few decades to resettle hundreds of thousands of refugees who have come through Thailand to resettle in the US. This should count for something.
The government has been sending out conflicting signals when it comes to the issue of Hmong refugees. But the international community can do its part, too, by stating clearly how many Hmong refugees they are willing to receive. A clearer policy could help move the issue towards some sort of solution.
China, on the other hand, has handed down 17 death sentences to Uighurs for their role in the July violence in the far-western Xinjiang province between local Uighurs and migrant Han Chinese. Some countries including the US have refused to send back Uighurs released from Guantanamo Bay detention camp for fear that they will suffer similar retribution.
The controversial decision by Hun Sen came ahead of the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jin-ping to Phnom Penh on Monday. The two countries signed 14 bilateral agreements worth more than US$1.2 billion (Bt40 billion) in aid and loans to Cambodia. In the past decade, China has emerged as Cambodia's largest donor. In the past, Cambodia relied on a consortium of assistance from the international community, which imposed very strict conditions. Beijing's aid has no strings attached.
In less than a decade, Beijing has been able to turn the anti-Chinese and anti-Khmer Rouge Phnom Penh government into a close friend, after nearly two decades of adversarial relations. Hun Sen has been behind the U-turn, switching to China after reducing investment from Taiwan, which was present in Cambodia in the early 1990s.
These days, Chinese entrepreneurs and all things Chinese are common sights throughout Cambodia. The Chinese language is a popular choice among students. In the past few years, China has provided hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assistance to the once war-torn country.
Cambodia has been able to use the Chinese presence as a counter to the Vietnamese dominance that prevailed after the Vietnamese army ousted the Khmer Rouge and occupied Cambodia in 1979. But China had close relations with Cambodia under the former King Norodom Sihanouk, who now resides in Beijing. Under the king, the country maintained a policy of strict neutrality.
Relations between Cambodia and China have increasingly become closer and more strategic, with major investments pouring in from state-run Chinese companies in Cambodian real estate and arable land. More than 50,000 Chinese currently live in Phnom Penh and other parts of the country, and that figure is only likely to increase.
7 comments:
KI - May I ask you why you would post such article from the Nation (Thailand), which is a pro-Abhisit government media outlet?
Fuck the Nation (Thailand). How many Khmer refugees your soldiers raped/tortured/killed? Your country towed a boat full of Tamil refugees and abandoned them at sea ...and so on?
Your nation has no moral. You need to at youself in the mirror first before you criticize others. No doubt why your country has so much problem with all your neighbours - Burma, Cambodia and Laos.
Can someone please report this article by Thailand The Nation to the Chinese embassy in Cambodia, and request our Chinese friend to "response" on our behalf?
To all Khmer compatriots, ladies and gentlemen,
Dear Khmer Kandal and Khmer Krom fighters,
Mr. Sam Rainsy and his party non-violence policy towards Hun Sen/CPP will not and never be work and Vietnam does not want to understand what is democracy, what is human right and what is oppressed, colonized, occupied Cambodia who was once upon the time fed, sheltered, supported Crocodile’s Vietnam to win over United States Arm forces in Vietnam War.
On 16th December, 2009 Mr. Hun Sen said in Cambodian public that Mr. Sam Rainsy will not be tolerated again this time, he must come in Cambodia and go to Prey Sar prison (sic), or he should ask Thai government to let him form a Khmer Exile Government at the Khmer-Thai territory along the Western border.
What Mr. Sam Rainsy ought to do is neither goes to Prey Sar prison nor goes to Vietnamese court in Hanoi. If, I were Mr. Sam Rainsy I would negotiate with Mr. Abbhisit Vejjajiva the Thai prime minister to follow Mr. Hun Sen suggestion in forming a Khmer Exile Government at the Thai-Cambodia border. I can assure you there will be 100 of thousands Khmer inside Cambodia will come to join the new Khmer Exile Government like in 1979’s.
Khmer king Norodom Sihamoni appointed Thacksin Shinawatra as Hun Sen adviser. Therefore, Mr. Sam Rainsy can form a Khmer Exile Government along Khmer-Thai border too. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WHICH CAN brings Vietnam and their slave Mr. Hun Sen/CPP to respect the 23rd October, 1991 Paris Peace Agreement by convene another international conference on Cambodia.
Regards,
Kulen Monorom
(The rice farmer’s son)
To all Khmer compatriots, ladies and gentlemen
CHINA and the USA do not know how to rescue Cambodia from Vietnamese jaws?
In relation to Cambodia, CHINA is Zero achievement, every time Chinese start to move their men or policies to influence Cambodia, the Vietcong/NVA punch in the Chinese nose first all the times.
Now the ECCC in Cambodia is indirectly control by Vietnamese government through their puppet Mr. Hun Sen/CPP government. The ECCC is charging former CHINA clients Mr. Khieu Samphan, Mr. Nuon Chea, Mr. Ieng Sary and his wife Mrs. Ieng Thirith as GENOCIDE crimes against the ethnic Vietnamese and the Cham in Cambodia. What is CHINA GOING TO DO ABOUT THAT?
BESIDE BRING MORE MONEY TO BUY Mr. Hun Sen/CPP government and perhaps to robe the whole of Cambodia through land development, ripping for Vietnam to take over again and again CHINA can not do anything to save Cambodia from Vietnam colonization.
CHINA WAS THE MAIN SUPPORTER OF KHMER ROUGE who is their clients now charging as genocide. Whereas the Vietnamese clients such as Hun Sen, Chea Sim, Heng Samrin, Hor Nam Hoang, Keat Chhon, Sam Kar, Sar Kheng, Men Sam An and much more who also GENOCIDED millions of Khmers are laughing at CHINA, USA, UN, EU, ECCC all the way to their own individual’s banks.
At this stage USA do not want to save Cambodia from Vietnam swallowing, so what CHINA must do is to wake up quickly by allying themselves with USA the same way as Mr. Deng Xao Ping did with Mr. Ronald Reagan in 1980’s and rearmed the ex- Khmer Rouge soldiers again to save Cambodia from extinction.
The condition must be attached onto those ex-Khmer Rouge troops, that those troops must be control and lead by ex-anti Vietnamese guerrilla’s leaders similar to the recipient of American Silver Cross Medal, Major Sergeant SARUN SAR of the American Special Force and many more of that types are waiting around the world and inside Cambodia to bring Vietnam and Hun Sen/CPP government to respect the 23rd October 1991 Paris Peace Agreement once more time.
Vietnamese government through their puppet HUN SEN had cheated the CHINESE GOVERNMENT, the UNTAC, the USA administrative and the whole Khmer Rouge organization by urging the Khmer Rouge to lay down their arm before 1993 and now control them like slave and master.
Now a day what CHINA hoping is to buy out HUN SEN and the whole CPP government with their money, so CHINA can have influence in Cambodia.
Vietnamese will not let HUN SEN go off their hooks so easily like CHINA wanted, if HUN SEN do want to escape from Vietnamese jaws, he will receive the same fate as his in-law former police crook-murderer Gen. HOK LUNDY.
Vietnam only allow Hun Sen as a bait to attract investment funds from China, so Vietnam who is Hun Sen master, can spare their own fund to buy 6 Sub-Marines and 12 Russian Airplanes to defeat CHINA once more time like in February 1979 from future China attack.
Vietnam at this moment will never let Chinese put a hand on Cambodia cake again, for inside Cambodia they had 100,000 NVA plus 5 million of Vietnamese illegal immigrants, and for augment sake who know how many Vietnamese militia in disguise among those 5 million illegal Vietnamese in Cambodia?
Therefore, the USA and the CHINA were manipulated by Vietnamese government again and again until they took all the South East Asian markets. Recently they took Laos, Cambodia and perhaps Thailand soon when the opportunity arises.
Vietnam smartly took Laos, Cambodia from CHINA and from the USA, and CHINA never dares to challenge Vietnam for CHINA and USA are always incapable to defeat Vietnamese hypocrisy in war or in politics, so CHINA and USA have no choice, but to unite like in 1980’s to stop Vietnam from swallowing Cambodia and to stop Vietnam expansionist strategy toward Thailand too.
CHINA CAN NOT BUY VIETNAMESE OR HUN SEN/CPP GOVERNMENT OUTRIGHT. CHINA and USA ARE THE LOOSERS TO VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST’S GOVERNMENT WITHOUT KNOWING IT, WHAT IS A SHAME!!!
Kulen Monorom
(The rice farmer’s son)
The Hun Sen government did had forcily returned the 20 refugees back to China,we're khmer citizens are also very disturb about this incident.However,Thailand should have no say about this at all when her border troops had thrown the khmer refugees into the minefield and shoot to kill those who refused to run across the minefield at preah vihear back in 1979.Thai troops are still committing inhumanity act against khmer citizen at the border recently.
thiefland is crying! thiefland is crying! nobody is playing nice with them because they are such a brat. why would anyone?
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