UCA News
Contribute

Forty Montagnard asylum seekers await their fate in Cambodia

Govt has been criticized for deporting 45 Montagnards to Vietnam in February
Forty Montagnard asylum seekers await their fate in Cambodia

A van transporting asylum-seeking Montagnards arrives at the General Department of Immigration in Phnom Penh in December last year after traveling from Ratanakkiri province (Photo by Hong Menea/the Phnom Penh Post)

Published: April 29, 2015 04:15 AM GMT
Updated: April 28, 2015 05:15 PM GMT

Forty Montagnard asylum seekers from Vietnam’s Central Highlands are waiting for the Interior Ministry’s refugee department to register their claims in Phnom Penh after more arrived in the capital in recent days, the UN refugee agency has said.

Vivian Tan, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), yesterday said that “more Montagnards have arrived in Phnom Penh.… There are now 40 of them waiting to be registered by the Refugee Department.”

Since October, dozens of ethnic Jarai Montagnards have fled to Cambodia citing religious persecution.

Cambodian police deported 45 Montagnards in February, while 13 have so far been granted provisional refugee status after they were escorted to Phnom Penh by UN officials in December.

At least 23 others are thought to be hiding in the forests of the remote northeast in Ratanakkiri province, where armed security forces and sniffer dogs have been mobilized to track them down.

Kerm Sarin, head of the government’s refugee department, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

An ethnic Jarai villager in Ratanakkiri who has been assisting the asylum seekers there said the new arrivals had not entered the country via the usual cross-border routes out of fear after about 1,000 troops were dispatched to the area on Thursday to combat “illegal immigration”.

“They did not come to Ratanakkiri because of the soldiers deploying all along the border,” he said. “The deploying of these troops was aimed at the Montagnards.”

Some of the 23 Montagnards still in hiding in the province have been there for four months and are suffering from worsening conditions and a lack of food, he added.

In late March, the UN refugee agency met Cambodian and Vietnamese officials to “discuss solutions” to the influx of Montagnards, including repatriation.

Wan-Hea Lee, representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that her office was continuing to urge the government to allow the remaining asylum seekers safe passage to register their claims without fear of deportation.

“Unfortunately, dialogue with the government on these issues has not been possible in recent months. Any viable long-term solution, however, would need to be pursued on the other side of the border where developments are apparently causing persons to seek asylum.’’

The continued influx of asylum seekers comes as Cambodia is preparing to allow a small number of refugees held in an Australian-funded detention center on the Pacific island of Nauru to resettle here under an agreement signed last September.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said: “Instead of proving to the world that it welcomes refugees, Cambodia is busy proving the opposite by hunting them down in the jungles and locking them out of the interview rooms in Phnom Penh.”

“Hun Sen and his government are right out of a modern day Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde show, where the kindly doctor happily treats refugees from Nauru whose pockets are stuffed with Australian assistance cash, while Hyde chases down and forces back impoverished Montagnards fleeing Vietnam government persecution.”

Additional reporting by Kevin Ponniah

Original story: Montagnards await fate

Source: The Phnom Penh Post

Help UCA News to be independent
Dear reader,
Lent is the season during which catechumens make their final preparations to be welcomed into the Church.
Each year during Lent, UCA News presents the stories of people who will join the Church in proclaiming that Jesus Christ is their Lord. The stories of how women and men who will be baptized came to believe in Christ are inspirations for all of us as we prepare to celebrate the Church's chief feast.
Help us with your donations to bring such stories of faith that make a difference in the Church and society.
A small contribution of US$5 will support us continue our mission…
William J. Grimm
Publisher
UCA News
Asian Bishops
Latest News
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia
UCA News Catholic Dioceses in Asia