Cambodian MP statement against the closure of Montagnard refugee camp

Son Chhay with the then Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd during the Asia Pacific Community conference in Sydney, December 4-5, 2009.

By Scott Johnson Friday
Canadian Free Press
December 17, 2010

Cambodian MP Son Chhay of the Sam Rainsy Party speaks out about deportation of Montagnard Refugees fleeing Vietnam because of religious persecution.

NB: this MP won the Order of Australia in June 2010.

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