UN Committee Says Montagnard Returnees in Good Shape

(ANS) – After a three-day monitoring trip last week to Viet Nam ‘s central highlands to check on the well-being of Montagnards who had voluntarily returned from Cambodia , the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that the returnees seem to be in good shape and back in the swing of normal life. According to a story by Jennifer Pagonis for the Reuters Foundation AlertNet, UNHCR’s representative in Hanoi , Vu Anh Son, met with local authorities and 18 returnee families during his May 18 -21 visit to Gia Lai and Kom Tum provinces in the central highlands. A total of 35 Montagnards returned home in March after an agreement was signed by UNHCR, Viet Nam and Cambodia in late January this year. Son said all of the returnees he met said they had stopped over in Pleiku, the provincial capital of Gia Lai, for a period of two to five days immediately after their return to Viet Nam . They said they were questioned by the local authorities about the reasons for their departure and were told about the government policies towards minorities and Montagnard returnees. They also underwent certain administrative formalities. “No one I met amongst the returnees claimed they were beaten or harassed during their stay in Pleiku or upon their return home,” said Son, who visited the returnees in their homes. “They all seemed in good shape.” Under the January accord, Viet Nam gave written guarantees that the returnees will not be punished, discriminated against or prosecuted. Many of the Montagnards are Christians.