Government officials Wednesday accused the UN High Commissioner for Refugees of secretly bringing 63 Montagnards from Vietnam into Cambodia. The group was caught Saturday by Cambodian police and sent back to the Central Highlands.
Speaking at a news conference, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary of State Sieng Lapresse said the incident has been clouded by “misunderstanding, misinterpretation and misinformation.” He defended the deportations, saying the UNHCR never informed Cambodian authorities the 63 were under its protection.
These latest deportations, which occurred Saturday, drew heavy fire from the UNHCR and human rights groups, who claim Cambodia is breaking international refugee obligations and sabotaging repatriation efforts for the more than 1,000 Montagnards under UNHCR protection in Cambodia.
“This incident of the alleged deportations and the objections from [the UNHCR] staff—we deny that,” Sieng Lapresse said.
The hastily organized news conference occurred on the same day National Police Director-General Hok Lundy returned from Ratanakkiri province, where a large delegation which included Vietnamese officials met with provincial authorities.
The Montagnards, who began fleeing from a government crackdown in Vietnam’s Central Highlands in February 2001, are living in two separate camps in Mondolkiri and Ratanakkiri provinces.
The Cambodian government claimed Saturday’s incident was the UN’s fault.
“According to authorities of the Interior Ministry, UNHCR transported the Montagnards—penetrating across the border—to refugee camps in Ratanakkiri….If we talk about cooperation, we question why UNHCR transported these Vietnamese into the camp without properly informing Cambodian authorities,” Sieng Lapresse said.
UNHCR Phnom Penh chief Nikola Mihajlovic angrily dismissed Sieng Lapresse’s allegations as “totally absurd.”
“It doesn’t stand. To say that we would do this—my God—it’s incredible. We cannot do anything without [Cambodian authorities] knowing,” he said.
The 63 asylum-seekers were arrested on the border by Cambodian police after they were told of the crossing by the UNHCR. The 63 never made it to the agency’s Ratanakkiri camp, Mihajlovic said.
The UNHCR staff protested the group’s deportation at the Andong Meas district police station. They had hoped to collect the asylum seekers, but were told instead the 63 were being sent back.
In recent weeks, observers say it appears Cambodia and Vietnam are maneuvering to halt the repatriation efforts. Mihajlovic said Wednesday a disturbing trend seems to be emerging.
“All these things now, there’s definitely something brewing up,” he said. “There’s a subtle networking being created over and around UNHCR. It’s high time we sat down and cleared the air.”
The UNHCR is scheduled to meet again with Cambodian and Vietnamese officials on March 12 in Hanoi to try and revive an apparently dead repatriation deal that was signed Jan 21.
Sieng Lapresse criticized the current agreement as being too vague and confusing, saying it doesn’t define Cambodia’s role in the repatriation of the Montagnards.
“After we implemented [the agreement] we found there are some things we have to correct. We want a better, more precise agreement,” he said.
Sieng Lapresse claims Cambodia wants the term “voluntary repatriation” added to a new agreement, and said it is absent from the present agreement because the three sides “did not discuss terminology.”
Critics of the repatriation deal also point out voluntary repatriation is not mentioned, but Mihajlovic said the UNHCR’s mission is clear.
“UNHCR is not confused…and these two government’s know UNHCR only too well—we have voluntarily repatriated their people as well. UNHCR does not get involved in anything that is not voluntary,” Mihajlovic said.
Long Visalo, the Foreign Affairs Ministry undersecretary of state who signed the Jan 21 agreement for Cambodia, said Wednesday the government has taken “voluntary returns” to mean “orderly returns.”
So far, 76 Montagnards have voluntarily returned to Vietnam.
What remains at issue is the ability of possible asylum seekers from Vietnam even to reach the UNHCR camps before Cambodian authorities intercept and deport them.
Sieng Lapresse did not say if authorities would deliver future asylum seekers to the UNHCR staff, but again raised long-standing concerns of a refugee crisis taking shape in Cambodia.
“Now there’s 500 or so [Montagnards]. What happens if there are thousands coming? What are we going to do?” he asked. “Cambodia has enough problems. We do not want this additional problem.”
Government officials now say Montagnards coming into Cambodia will be considered illegal immigrants and deported, despite claims Cambodia is violating the 1951 Convention on Refugees it has signed.
“Clearly, [the Convention] says people have a right to file their claims,” Mihajlovic said. “Every country must listen to them, and if you deport them before they are able to do so, you are not fulfilling your obligations under the Convention.”
