Highlands returnees face problems
Former refugees from the troubled Central Highlands of Vietnam have
continued to face land-ownership problems since returning to their homes
months ago on their own or under the auspices of the United Nations.
United
States Ambassador Raymond Burghardt, who visited the highlands in late
March-early April, was told by Montagnards who had returned late last
year
and early this year that they continue to have their land confiscated
with
little or no compensation, according to U.S. officials. Others are given
poor land in forced exchanges.
The returnees, largely Christian members of the hill tribes of the area,
fled to Cambodia after large demonstrations erupted in the Central
Highlands
in February 2001 during which the protesters demanded greater land
rights
and more religious freedom. Dozens of alleged organizers were arrested
after
the demonstrations. Nearly 1,000 refugees who fled to Cambodia refused
to
return to Vietnam and are now in the process of being resettled in the
U.S.
One of Burghardt's goals in visiting the highlands was to look for U.S.
investment and aid opportunities to help develop one of the most
impoverished regions of Vietnam.
The Far Eastern Economic Review - July 11, 2002.
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