Khmer Group Says It Shares Goals of Other Minorities in Vietnam

Thach Ngoc Thach, left and newly re-ordained monk Tim Sakhorn, middle, drops by VOA Khmer while on a visit in the US, file photo. (Photo: VOA Khmer)

Friday, 20 April 2012
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

“The government of Vietnam has always accused us of being a terrorist group, a group to break up the country.”

Members of the Khmer minority in Vietnam recently met with State Department officials and are now looking for ways to unite with other minorities like the Hmong and Montagnards to protect themselves from persecution, a leading advocate says.

Thach Ngoc Thach, president of the US-based Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation, told VOA Khmer the main goals of these minorities are the same.

Khmer groups in Vietnam face persecution for their religion and separate culture, activists say, including land seizures and arbitrary arrest.

“Khmer Krom, Montagnards, and Hmong face similar social and economic issues,” a US State Department official said. “We continue to encourage Vietnam to implement policy that will encourage greater economic and social opportunities for all ethnic minorities.”

Vietnam: Montagnards Harshly Persecuted

Jarai women in Plei Lao village, Gia Lai, where Mobile Intervention Police broke up an all-night prayer meeting in March 2001, fired on villagers- killing one-then burned the village church (Photo: Human Rights Watch)

Y Ben Hdok who was alleged to have been murdered while in police custody (Photo: Montagnard Foundation)

Forced Renunciation of Faith, Harassment, Violence, and Arrests

Thursday April 14, 2011

By Dan Wooding

VIETNAM (ANS) -- The Vietnamese government has intensified repression of indigenous minority Christians from the country's Central Highland provinces who are pressing for religious freedom and land rights, Human Rights Watch (www.hrw.org) has said in a just released report.

The 46-page report, "Montagnard Christians in Vietnam: A Case Study in Religious Repression," details the latest government crackdowns on these indigenous peoples, known collectively as Montagnards. The report documents police sweeps to root out Montagnards in hiding. It details how the authorities have dissolved house church gatherings, orchestrated coerced renunciations of faith, and sealed off the border to prevent asylum seekers from fleeing to Cambodia.

Human Rights Watch found that special "political security" (PA43) units conduct operations with provincial police to capture, detain, and interrogate people they identify as political activists or leaders of unregistered house churches. More than 70 Montagnards have been detained or arrested in 2010 alone, and more than 250 are known to be imprisoned on national security charges.

Money First, Human Rights Last

Montagnard village during the Vietnam War.

April 4, 2011
Bruce Kesler
Family Security Matters

The newfound fervor for human rights among liberal supporters of President Obama’s “kinetic” enterprise in Libya might be better turned to Vietnam. Instead, ignoring the persecution of minorities there and ongoing – indeed, increasing – repression of dissent, they fall into line with US businesses profiting from cheap Vietnamese labor to look away. We ally with Middle East foes of freedom and abandon real seekers of freedom in Vietnam.

During the Vietnam War, the Montagnards -- Vietnam’s Central Highlands hill people, a distinct ethnic and cultural group different from the majority lowland Vietnamese – became strong allies in fighting against the communists. They had long wanted autonomy within Vietnam, and seeking their support Saigon granted them many of their requests.

Since 1975, the communist government of Vietnam has ruthlessly persecuted the Montagnards, imprisoning, torturing, murdering many and taking their lands for roads, plantations and mines, denuding the forests for valuable woods, moving the Montagnards from poverty to rootless impoverishment and loss of culture. Together with many within the government, those with connections and Chinese state businesses profit.

Many Montagnards are devout Protestants, Degar, whose churches are not recognized by the state and whose members come in for particularly harsh punishments. The Montagnard Foundation is their voice in the West, documenting and exposing their persecution. Few listen and fewer care, least of all the US government. Under both presidents Bush and Obama, the US government has looked away, with the myth that somehow Vietnam would be a counterweight to China but actually favoring US businesses that also profit from trade with Vietnam.

Vietnam: Montagnards Harshly Persecuted

Forced Renunciation of Faith, Harassment, Violence, and Arrests

March 30, 2011

Source: Human Rights Watch

"Freedom of religion does not mean freedom for state-sanctioned religions only. Vietnam should immediately recognize independent religious groups and let them practice their beliefs." - Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director.

(Bangkok) - The Vietnamese government has intensified repression of indigenous minority Christians from the country's Central Highland provinces who are pressing for religious freedom and land rights, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 46-page report, "Montagnard Christians in Vietnam: A Case Study in Religious Repression," details the latest government crackdowns on these indigenous peoples, known collectively as Montagnards. The report documents police sweeps to root out Montagnards in hiding. It details how the authorities have dissolved house church gatherings, orchestrated coerced renunciations of faith, and sealed off the border to prevent asylum seekers from fleeing to Cambodia.

Human Rights Watch found that special "political security" (PA43) units conduct operations with provincial police to capture, detain, and interrogate people they identify as political activists or leaders of unregistered house churches. More than 70 Montagnards have been detained or arrested in 2010 alone, and more than 250 are known to be imprisoned on national security charges.

Cambodia: Ensure Montagnards’ asylum rights

2 March 2011
Source: ALIRAN

Cambodia should provide safe asylum for Montagnards fleeing Vietnam’s Central Highlands even after it closes the United Nations’ refugee centre in Phnom Penh for Montagnards on 15 February 2011, Human Rights Watch has said.

Ongoing government crackdowns in Vietnam against Montagnard Christians make it imperative for Cambodia not to deny Montagnards their basic right to seek safe asylum, Human Rights Watch said. As a party to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, Cambodia is obligated to protect the rights of all who seek asylum within its borders.

“Cambodia has a clear obligation to ensure that future Montagnard asylum seekers are permitted to enter a refugee screening process that is fair and based on international standards,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Closing the Montagnard refugee centre doesn’t change those obligations.”

In December 2010, the Cambodian government ordered the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to close the Montagnard refugee centre by 1 January 2011. The Cambodian government subsequently agreed to an extension of the deadline to 15 February to allow time to resettle or repatriate the Montagnards remaining at the centre.

Cambodia: NGOs concerned for the fate of asylum seekers

01 Mar 2011
Source: Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS)

After the closure of the centre for Montagnard asylum seekers, NGOs worry about the fate of new arrivals, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AFP)

Human Rights Watch expressed concerns that after the refugee centre closes, the Cambodian government will screen future Montagnard asylum seekers under a procedure that does not meet international standards.

Phnom Penh, 28 February 2011– Following the closure of the centre managed by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on 15 February, human rights organisations have called on the Cambodian government to ensure it offers protection to asylum seekers.

Seventy Montagnards, part of ethnic minority tribes from Vietnam's Central Highlands, had been housed at the facility in Phnom Penh. Late last year, the government ordered UNHCR to close the centre by 1 January, saying that the Montagnards would either need to be resettled in third countries or returned to Vietnam. This deadline was later extended to 15 February.

According to UNHCR, 55 Montagnards had been resettled in Canada and the US before the deadline, while a further 10 are currently awaiting settlement. The applications for the remaining 10 were unsuccessful and are to be sent back to Vietnam.

Degar-Montagnard: Canada Gives Asylum to Religious Refugees

February 24, 2011
Source: UNPO

The arrival of 50 Montagnard refugees who had fled persecution in Vietnam was announced today by Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.

Below is n press release published by Marketwire:

Canada agreed, at the emergency request of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to resettle a group of Vietnamese Montagnard refugees who had been under risk of return to Vietnam.

"Canada had the capacity to act quickly in response to this situation and we are pleased to welcome these individuals to Québec City as they have been living in an uncertain situation for far too long," said Minister Kenney.

This group of Montagnard hill tribespeople from Vietnam's Central Highlands fled in 2006 and crossed the border into Cambodia. They were initially under consideration for resettlement to another country, but had not yet been admitted there. As the refugee centre in Cambodia was closing, Canadian officials acted quickly to resettle the remaining refugees. The acceptance by Canada of this group means that the protection needs of all members of the original group that fled in 2006 have now been addressed.

Degar- Montagnards: Refugees Repatriated to Vietnam

February 17, 2011

Vietnamese asylum-seekers in Cambodia will likely be subject to persecution upon their return.

Below is an article published by Radio Free Asia:

A group of Vietnamese refugees, most of whom fled their home country because of religious persecution, are facing repatriation after the Cambodian government on Tuesday closed a center operated by the United Nations’ refugee agency in Phnom Penh.

Several members of the Montagnard ethnic group said they were unsure of what reprisals they would face upon their return to Vietnam’s Central Highlands, where they say they have endured land confiscation and repression at the hands of the single-party communist government.

Spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Koy Kuong said that Montagnard refugees who had not been given refugee status and accepted by a third country for resettlement would be required to return home.

"Today is the last day, the day that the site has to be completely shut down," he said, adding that no new center would be allowed to open in the future.

Hanoi welcomed the closure of Montagnard refugee camp by its henchmen in Phnom Penh

Cambodian closure of camp welcomed

February, 17 2011
VNS

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Government highly values the Cambodian Government's closure of its temporary camp in Phnom Penh for ethnic minority people of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, in accordance with the schedule Cambodia had previously announced, said a spokesperson from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

Nguyen Phuong Nga told reporters yesterday that "the Vietnamese State always prioritises promoting socio-economic development in remote and mountainous areas in order to improve all aspects of the lives of ethnic minorities, including those in the Central Highlands."

"In reality, the Central Highlands has been one of the regions that has enjoyed a high economic growth rate and the lives of ethnic minorities in all fields have been further improved over recent years," she went on to say.

Refugees Face New Risks

By Irwin Loy

PHNOM PENH, Feb 16, 2011 (IPS) - Cambodia must ensure it offers a safe haven to asylum seekers, rights groups say, following the government’s closure this week of a United Nations-run refugee centre, home to dozens of Montagnards from Vietnam.

The 75 Montagnards, part of ethnic minority tribes from Vietnam’s Central Highlands, had been housed at the facility in Phnom Penh – some for up to six years. The government had ordered the centre shut late last year, saying that the Montagnards would either need to be resettled or forcibly returned to Vietnam.

The government gave the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) until this week to find new homes for the asylum seekers.

Montagnards return to Vietnam from Cambodia

2/16/2011
By Agence France-Presse

Ten ethnic Montagnards returned to communist Vietnam from Cambodia on Wednesday, authorities in Hanoi said, rejecting concerns that the group could be mistreated.

They were among more than 1,700 Montagnards who fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after security forces crushed protests against land confiscations and religious persecution.

Members of the largely Christian Montagnards backed US forces during the Vietnam War.

The 10 -- who did not qualify as refugees -- had been in a group of 75 Vietnamese Montagnards living at a United Nations refugee centre in Cambodia, which decided to close the facility. Phnom Penh gave the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) until Tuesday to shut it down.

Cambodia closes centre for Vietnam Montagnard refugees

15 February 2011
By Guy Delauney
BBC News, Phnom Penh

A United Nations refugee centre in Cambodia is closing after a government order to stop operating.

The centre had taken in indigenous Montagnard people from neighbouring Vietnam.

They are mostly evangelical Christians who claim they have been persecuted because of their beliefs.

Human rights organisations have urged Cambodia to stand by its commitment to the United Nations convention on refugees.

There have been mixed messages from the government. It had said asylum-seekers from Vietnam would be turned back.

Montagnards: Victims and Microcosm of Vietnam’s Expansion and Imperialism

Saturday, December 18, 2010
Op-Ed by MP

THE major donor countries - particularly, the US, Japan, Australia and other EU countries should not ignore the plight of refugees known as ‘Montagnards’, currently, the subject of repatriation to Vietnam by the Phnom Penh government . On humanitarian grounds, at least, this group, drawn from one of Vietnam’s politically persecuted ethnic minorities should be allowed to remain in Cambodia or to claim asylum in any other third countries of their own choosing, in accordance with international conventions on refugees. No human being would consider the prospect of living in exile, away from their native habitat as an easy choice to make, especially if your state and government put a premium upon your head or discriminate against you as a people and an identity, such as the Khmer Krom people or the Montagnards. The Vietnamese regime had angered their Chinese counterpart in the 1970s and 1980s by discriminating against ethnic Chinese residents in Vietnam - a practice they extended to Cambodia through their client regime of the PRK - prompting waves of exodus of the 'boat people' of Chinese descend out of Vietnam, particularly, from former South Vietnam, and this had been one of the factors behind Beijing's determination to 'teach Hanoi a lesson' in 1979.

For all its tireless propaganda effort, the Vietnamese state has yet to respect the rights and integrity of indigenous populations living within their ever expanding territories. In the wake of the overthrow of the Pol Pot regime, the centuries - long repressed people of Kampuchea Krom had a chance to escape this repression by simply crossing over the western border into Cambodia. Economic poverty was a major contributing factor for this movement, but the Khmer Krom people have had their farms and livelihoods imperceptibly but ineluctably seized from their ownership or control from the moment Vietnamese authorities extended their official administrative presence across this region of former Cambodian territories, clearing the way for ethnic Vietnamese farmers to assume permanent control over the villages and farmlands; a historical trend that has been perpetuated and replicated to this day to the grief and misery of the Montagnards and - since the early 1990s or perhaps earlier - the Khmer farmers along the eastern frontiers.

In relations to the claim made in apology for Vietnam's criminal and genocidal policy and practices directed at indigenous populations regarding communist Vietnam ‘allowing’ Buddhist clergy in Kampuchea Krom to come over to Cambodia to 'revive' Khmer Buddhism, it should not be forgotten that the Khmer Krom clergy (itself very much a victim of the same discriminatory trend) has not been exempted from political and cultural discrimination by the Vietnamese state over the same historical period under Vietnamese suzerainty. Therefore, the clergy's principal motivation for coming to settle in Cambodia - still within the influence of that same suzerainty – is, in truth, no different from the social causes motivating or coercing many of the lay people of Khmer descend of the Mekong Delta to migrate upstream of the Mekong to the less densely populated land of their Khmer cousins. Further, the Buddhist clergy - not unlike all other secular social institutions - has been heavily infiltrated by Communist agents. Beside subjecting the clergy to the dictatorial influence of Hanoi aligned Communists - in - saffron robes like Tep Vong (aptly labelled 'Hochi-Monks' by KI Media here), all monks had been required to undergo political indoctrination sessions during the PRK era. The violent suppressing of protesting Khmer Krom monks in Cambodia itself at the hands of the current regime does nothing to support the claim that these monks' actual religious freedom is or has been promoted or respected by the Hanoi regime and its client state in Cambodia.

The question as to whether these Montagnards are genuine refugees or be repatriated to their place of origins is an issue that rights groups and UNHCR along with other responsible bodies outside the state should be allowed to determine first and foremost, free of undue political interference from the states concerned. The relevant UN Charter on refugees and displaced persons - if one is to go by this - would enable one to view such persons in similar vein to the way prisoners of war (for example) are viewed and defined, with all the binding implications as to rights and responsibilities in respect of their wellbeing and legal entities upon relevant authorities.

Why is it so hard for the Cambodian regime to accommodate a handful of Montagnards seeking sanctuary from persecution when the border between Cambodia and Vietnam has been open to one-way traffic in favour of illegal Vietnamese settlers in their hundreds of thousands, if not, perhaps, millions since 1979? Whereas Cambodian authorities are prepared to allocate hectares of arable land to Vietnamese fishermen and their families to settle in - not to mention the thousands of square kilometres of mineral, timber - rich swathes of land 'leased' to Vietnamese 'companies' - is it too much to ask that the Montagnards be allowed temporary shelter until such a time when their safe return to their home land can be assured? Or will that day ever come at all given Vietnam's relentless pursuit of its manifest destiny? If China's aggression and enslavement of Vietnam had once provided the reason for the latter's need for expansion and organic cohesion in both demography and territory terms, when will this need/compulsion be finally satisfied so that other peoples and nations can look forward to a time of peace and stability free from Vietnam's reactive syndrome, or her inbuilt- paranoia and siege mentality?

Or is this sense of insecurity vis-a-vis China simply a pretext for Vietnam to steamroll over smaller, helpless nations and peoples?

With kindest thought and Merry Christmas to all readers.

CAMBODIA: Rights groups protest at order to close UN refugee site

PHNOM PENH, 17 December 2010 (IRIN) - The Cambodian government has ordered the closure of a UN site holding dozens of Montagnard refugees from Vietnam, in a move that rights groups say is politically motivated and potentially dangerous for those whose status has yet to be determined.

The facility houses 76 refugees and asylum-seekers from Vietnam who are members of that country's highland ethnic minorities. Rights groups claim the Montagnards face ethnic and religious persecution by the Vietnamese government.

A majority - 62 - at the site have qualified for resettlement but the case of 14 others has yet to be determined.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia will repatriate to Vietnam the remaining Montagnards, including the new arrivals and those awaiting interview, on a date to be notified in due course," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

In a letter dated 29 November, but not obtained by the press until this week, the government wrote to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), ordering it to close the site on 1 January.

On 17 December, however, Foreign Affairs Minister Hor Namhong told reporters that the government would extend the deadline to 15 February as a "favour" to the UN.

"We're still trying to verify this officially, but if this is true it would be very good news as this is exactly what we were asking the Cambodian government to do," Kitty McKinsey, a UNHCR spokeswoman, told IRIN from Ho Chi Minh City.

Claims of persecution

Since 2001, some 2,000 Motagnards have fled to Cambodia following government crackdowns in Vietnam, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Many have resettled in third countries through Cambodia but others have been arrested and deported to Vietnam, the group says.

It has not yet been clarified by either the government or UN whether the cases of the 14 without resettlement countries were rejected or undecided.

If the latter, repatriating them would be a violation of Cambodia's signed commitment to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, requiring it to protect refugees fleeing persecution.

Under the convention, "Cambodia has a clear obligation... to ensure that the 14 Montagnard asylum-seekers are permitted to enter a refugee screening determination process that is fair and based on international standards", Phil Robertson, deputy director of HRW's Asia division, said.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, a local rights group, maintained that the Cambodian government was sending a clear message: "Cambodia will not be a place to receive" political refugees.

His group tied the government's demanded closure to a visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to Phnom Penh last month in which trade deals were emphasized.

The decision to close the refugee site "is further evidence that the treatment of political refugees in Cambodia is secondary to the [government's] political and economic prerogative", the group said in a letter released on 15 December.

Uighur deportation

Rights groups say the Montagnard case follows the pattern of the Cambodian government's widely criticized move to forcibly repatriate 20 ethnic Uighur asylum-seekers to China on 19 December 2009 - immediately after the announcement of a US$1.2 billion aid package from Beijing.

"With the Uighurs, the Cambodian government blatantly disregarded its obligation under the Convention by failing to conduct a refugee screening determination, and it's up to UNHCR and concerned governments like the US and EU and others to pressure the Cambodian government to ensure that Montagnards don't suffer a repeat performance of what the Uighurs faced," Robertson said.

News reports inside China stated that four of the Uighurs were executed and 14 jailed.

Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong has rejected claims that political pressure was the motivation for the UN site's closure.

"No one has influence on Cambodia's policy," he told the Phnom Penh Post. "We decided to close it down on our own."

Cambodia to close UN refugee center by mid-February next year

December 17, 2010
Xinhua

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Friday the closure of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' center will be postponed to mid- February next year.

Hor Namhong made the announcement at a press briefing held at the Phnom Penh International Airport upon Prime Minister Hun Sen's return from visiting China. "We asked UNHCR to close the center in (Phnom Penh) by January 1, 2011, but they have asked us to postpone the closure as refugees are still awaiting resettlement in a third country. Therefore, Prime Minister Hun Sen agreed to postpone the closure to February 15, 2011."

Currently, 76 Montagnard asylum seekers, mostly Christian ethnic minorities from Vietnam's highlands, are living in the center, and 62 of them have been granted refugee status and waiting resettlement in the third country.

Hor Namhong said that any unregistered asylum seekers would be deported to Vietnam upon the centre's closure. "Now it's the time we have to close this center because there is no war, no noticeable weapon clash in Vietnam. Instead, Vietnam is building its social and economic development rapidly, so there should be no longer refugees in Cambodia," he added.

Cambodia postpones closure of Vietnamese refugee centre

Friday, December 17, 2010
AFP

PHNOM PENH — Cambodia on Friday extended a deadline to shut down a refugee centre housing dozens of Vietnamese ethnic minority Montagnards, giving in to pleas by the UN refugee agency for more time.

The largely Christian Montagnard community -- a group whose members backed US forces during the Vietnam war -- say they face repression in Vietnam.

The Cambodian office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had earlier been informed by the foreign ministry that the facility in Phnom Penh would be closed on January 1.

In a letter, it urged the UNHCR to speed up the resettlement of 62 Montagnards who had been granted refugee status and vowed to repatriate any remaining refugees to Vietnam, prompting the UNHCR to request more time.

"We extended the date of closing down the centre from January 1 to February 15, 2011" Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong told AFP.

But he said 14 Montagnards who had not yet received refugee status still faced being sent back to Vietnam.

"We do not want any refugee centre in Phnom Penh any more," he said, adding that the centre was never meant to be a long-term solution.

A spokeswoman for UNHCR said she had not been officially informed of the delay but welcomed the move.

"We very much hope that it's true. That would give us the extra time we need to find long-term solutions for those 62 Montagnards," UNHCR Asia spokeswoman Kitty McKinsey told AFP.

She refused to comment on the situation of the 14 other Montagnards.

Around 2,000 Montagnards fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after security forces crushed protests against land confiscations and religious persecution.

Vietnam, Cambodia and the UNHCR signed an agreement in January 2005 under which Montagnards may choose whether to resettle in a third country or return home. Cambodia has refused to allow them to stay in the kingdom.

The majority were resettled, with the United States taking in most.

Communist Vietnam has strongly denied a 2006 accusation by the New York-based Human Rights Watch that it had detained and tortured Montagnards who returned home.

Statement against the closure of Montagnards refugee camp

For Immediate Release

Phnom Penh, December 17, 2010

Protection from Prosecution is a Right-Protection of Refugees is an Obligation

The freedom to believe in the religion of your choosing is a fundamental human right. The Vietnamese Montagnards living in the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) center in Phnom Penh were denied that right in their home country, and fled with well founded fear of persecution.

The UNHCR has the mandate to assist refugees like these around the world. As a signature to the 1951 Convention on Refugees, Cambodia has the obligation to provide full protection to refugees seeking asylum in Cambodia. Furthermore, the provision to provide protection stipulated in this key UN Convention is a moral obligation to all leaders.

The Cambodian government's abrupt order for the closure of the UNHCR centre can be determined as a complicit act with the Vietnamese government's policy of restricting what religion its people are allowed to believe. The Vietnamese Montagnards living in the UNHCR refugee centre have already been recognized as refugees. They will face serious threats to their safety when deported back to Vietnam. Any order for their forced return is a shameful act.

SRP Members of Parliament request the Royal Government of Cambodia to fully display its obligation to respect and implement the UN refugee convention by allowing the Refugee Centre to continue its operation as long as it is needed and to do what it can to assist the UNHCR in providing full protection to all refugees.

For further information contact MP Son Chhay on 012-858857

UN Seeks Extension for Montagnard Site

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Thursday, 16 December 2010

“We hope that we will get a favorable response from the Cambodian government.”

The UN office for refugees is Phnom Penh has requested an extension to keep open a center for Montagnard refugees, as it seeks to settle the last of a wave of asylum seekers that began in 2001.

The closure of the UNHCR center would mean an end to that program, after thousands of refugees fled Vietnam, especially between 2001 and 2004.

Many of the Montagnards, who were friendly to US forces during the war with Vietnam and said they had suffered under the Vietnamese government, have resettled in the US.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry had ordered a Jan. 1, 2011, close date for the site, but the UN has asked for a three-month extension.

A government spokesman said Cambodia was considering the request, with a decision expected next week.

Sixty-two asylum seekers who were granted refugee status remain at the site, while another 14 who were not recognized as refugees will be sent back to Vietnam.

The closure of the sight will mean an end to a program that has already moved nearly 1,000 refugees to third countries, after they complained of oppressive treatment in Vietnam and fled across the border. About 750 were sent back to Vietnam.

Kitty McKinsey, a spokeswoman for UNHCR, said the agency needs more time to process those who remain.

“We hope that we will get a favorable response from the Cambodian government” to the extension request, she said.

Naly Pilorge, director of the rights group Licadho, said she was surprised to hear of the site’s closure. Cambodia has an obligation under UN agreements to recognize and protect refugees, she said. “We would like the Cambodian government to provide further explanation and justification on how they took this decision,” she said.

Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the site had lasted “long enough,” adding that the government wanted it closed “to avoid more refugees” coming to Cambodia.

Cambodia to shut Vietnamese refugee centre

Hundreds of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia since 2001

14 December 2010
BBC News

Cambodia says it will shut a centre for Vietnamese refugees on 1 January and send those remaining back to Vietnam, where they allegedly face repression.

The UN refugee agency has pleaded for more time to resettle the 62 refugees.

They are the last group of asylum-seekers known as Montagnards - an ethnic minority that largely sided with US forces during the Vietnam war.

Cambodia has refused to allow them to settle, saying they must choose to go to a third country or back to Vietnam.

Hundreds of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia since 2001, after Vietnam's communist government cracked down on protests against land confiscation and religious persecution.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has already has granted the Montagnards refugee status.

"We have asked the Cambodian government to give us more time to find a long-term solution for these 62 individuals who are at that site, and we hope that the Cambodian government will give us a favourable reply," Kitty McKinsey of UNHCR told the BBC Vietnamese service.

"They haven't sent them back yet, so let's not get ahead of ourselves."

Cambodia says it wants to close the shelter in Phnom Penh to deter any further arrivals from Vietnam.

"If we don't tell them to close the site, the work of the UNHCR will be prolonged endlessly," Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

Cambodia to shut UN refugee site, leaving fate of 62 Vietnamese refugees uncertain

14/12/2010
By Sopheng Cheang
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The Cambodian government has informed the U.N. refugee agency it will shut a compound housing 62 Vietnamese refugees on New Year's Day and send them back to Vietnam, where they allegedly face repression.

The U.N. agency, which already has granted them refugee status, pleaded Tuesday for a little more time to decide how to resettle the group.

They are the last batch of asylum-seekers from a wave of 1,812 Vietnamese hill tribe people taken in by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees since 2006, said the agency's regional representative Jean-Noel Wetterwald. The agency has resettled 999 of them, mostly in the United States, and sent 751 of them home.

Cambodia is eager to close the refugee compound in Phnom Penh to deter any further arrivals of ethnic minorities from Vietnam's Central Highlands, who are collectively known as Montagnards. Many of them sided with the United States during the Vietnam War, attend Protestant churches not recognized in Vietnam and are generally distrusted by the communist government.

"If we don't tell them to close the site, the work of the UNHCR will be prolonged endlessly," Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said. "We don't want the site to stay there forever."

The Foreign Ministry told the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in a letter obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press "it has decided to close down the site" on Jan. 1. The government will send the refugees back to the communist country "on a date to be notified in due course," said the letter, dated Nov. 29.

The U.N. agency said it understands the government does not want the refugees staying indefinitely in Cambodia, but hopes a little more time will be granted so resettlement can be arranged.

"We have asked the government to give us an extension of the deadline to try to see if we can find a solution," Wetterwald said in a telephone interview in Bangkok.

He said the closure would not affect the agency office in Cambodia, which opened in 1983.

Thousands of Montagnards have fled to Cambodia since 2001, when Vietnam's communist government cracked down on protests against land confiscation and restrictions on religious freedom.

___

Associated Press Writer Jocelyn Gecker in Bangkok contributed to this report.