(ANS) – Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation, has told the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights meeting in Geneva , Switzerland , that the current Memorandum of Understanding regarding the fate of more than 700 Montagnard refugees is “flawed and dangerous.” Kok Ksor, speaking on behalf of the Transnational Radical Party (TRP), said the Memorandum was flawed “because it does not contain any explicit guarantees that Montagnard refugees (or those not deemed refugees) who are returned to Vietnam will be effectively protected by the UNHCR.” Ksor told the meeting: “In the year 2005 Montagnard refugees continue to be hunted down by Vietnamese police who pay bounties to Cambodian police for arresting them. Upon their return to Vietnam many refugees are subjected to harsh reprisals, torture and imprisonment.” Ksor said that on 25 January, 2005 the Government of Cambodia, Vietnam and UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding over 700 Montagnard asylum seekers currently in Cambodia . “Their fate remains in question and representatives of more than 300 refugees in Phnom Penh have asked the TRP to deliver this appeal to the UN,” Ksor said. “Any attempt to return Montagnard refugees to Vietnam without guaranteeing their safety inside Vietnam will fail in the long term as returned refugees face reprisals,” said Ksor.
To read the full story, click here: CURRENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN CAMBODIA, VIETNAM AND UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION LEAVES MONTAGNARDS IN DANGER
