Over 100 indigenous Montagnard political refugees were forced onto buses from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh in the early morning of July 20 and returned to Vietnam's Central Highlands after their asylum cases were rejected by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh.
The indigenous community of about 2,000 members, comprising of the Mnong, Ede, Jarai, Koho, and Bahnar ethnic groups, fled to Cambodia in 2001 to escape Vietnamese laws that banned public gatherings, encouraged socioeconomic discrimination, and permitted lowlanders to use their tribal lands.
Ny Chakrya, head of the monitoring section at the local rights group ADHOC in Phenom Penh, expressed alarm to VOA News that the Montagnards have been involuntarily placed in a hostile environment and are not monitored or protected in Vietnam as mandated by the UN Convention on Refugees.
The repatriation was a result of an agreement between Cambodia, Vietnam, and the UNHCR signed in January. Although the agreement contained a provision prohibiting punishment and discrimination of returnees, international human rights organizations have noted much harassment from Vietnamese authorities against the Montagnards. Over 500 Montagnards remain in Phnom Penh as their political refugee status is reviewed.
A June 2004 Human Rights Watch report said that earlier returnees face constant police surveillance, remain under house arrest indefinitely, and encounter interrogation from officers about their daily activities.
Inna Gladkova, a UNHCR protection officer, said the repatriation was justified because the Montagnards simply did not qualify for refugee status, according to Japan Economic Newswire. Gladkova affirmed that the UN refugee agency had fulfilled its obligations by providing a detailed interview and a legitimate appeal process before denying asylum status to the 100 Montagnards, she told the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization.
David Gainer, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia, urged the repatriation to be delayed until international monitors are established to observe the treatment of returnees, as reported by the Japan Economic Newswire.
The Montagnard Foundation, based in South Carolina, is appealing to all democratic governments around the world to press for an international overseer to monitor and protect the refugees if the repatriation is not discontinued. The foundation plans to request a thorough examination of UNHCR agencies to ensure that the standards yielded from the UN Refugees Convention are upheld in this process.
