Vietnamese expected to get asylum in US
PHNOM PENH - A group of 24 Vietnamese
asylum seekers are expected to receive refugee status
from the United Nations, paving the way for their
resettlement in the United States, a senior aide to Prime
Minister Hun Sen said Monday.
Om Yentieng, a personal adviser to Hun Sen, told
reporters that "the UNHCR has a clear judgment that
these people are refugees that need third country
asylum."
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is
the agency that adjudicates whether asylum seekers are
legitimate refugees who could face persecution if they
were repatriated.
"I have not received anything officially yet but what I've
been told is that they all will receive refugee status," he
said. He expected the group to be resettled in the United
States, which has offered to take them.
The 24 hill tribespeople were taken into custody in the
eastern Cambodian province of Mondulkiri near the
Vietnamese border in mid-March. They had crossed into
Cambodia from the Vietnamese Central Highlands after
unrest in February linked to disputes over land and
religious rights. Many members of the hill tribe minorities
in Vietnam are Christians, unlike the majority of
Vietnamese who are Buddhists.
Vietnam has accused the United States of attempting to
destabilise the region with its offer of asylum for the
group. Vietnam has requested Cambodia send them
home.
John Farvolden, the acting director of the U.N. refugee
agency office in Cambodia, confirmed Monday that the
23 men and 1 woman had been formally interviewed by
the agency. He declined further comment.
US Ambassador to Cambodia Kent Wiedemann said
US immigration officials were standing by to process the
group, which could be completed by the end of the
week.
The Associated Press - April 10, 2001.
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