Cambodia : Vietnam refugees can leave
ANG SNUOL - Cambodia said Sunday it will allow Vietnamese refugees to be resettled in the United States,
ending the uncertainty over the fate of nearly 1,000 ethnic tribespeople who say they fled persecution by Vietnam's communist
government.
The Cambodia government has decided to let the refugees ``live in the United States on a voluntary basis,'' Prime Minister Hun
Sen said.
Those who prefer to go back to Vietnam can live there ``with safety and dignity,'' he told a public rally during the inauguration of
a Buddhist temple in this village outside Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital.
Most of the refugees have already said they want to live in the United States.
The United States last week repeated its longstanding offer to take the Christian tribespeople, known as Montagnards, after a
United Nations plan to repatriate them to Vietnam collapsed.
But the U.S. plan remained in a limbo pending an approval by Cambodia.
Hun Sen indicated the resettlement process could start in the next several days.
He said that allowing the refugees to leave Cambodia will bring an end to ``the very serious headache'' caused to his
government.
The 905 Vietnamese are currently living in two U.N.-administered camps in northeastern Cambodia. They fled their villages in
Vietnam's Central Highlands after the communist government crushed protests in February 2001 over encroachment of
traditional tribal lands, economic discrimination and religious restrictions.
Hun Sen said the resettlement in the United States will apply only to the Montagnards living in the two camps.
``We will not accept any more people. We will send them back. Whoever will come in the future will be sent back. There will be
no more camps on Cambodian soil after this solution,'' he said.
Many of the Montagnards have relatives who fought alongside U.S. troops during the Vietnam War, which makes the
Vietnamese government distrustful of them.
Vietnam opposes the planned resettlement in the United States. It views the asylum seekers as wayward citizens and denies
any discrimination of the Montagnards.
The Associated Press - March 31, 2002.
33 Vietnamese illegal immigrants arrested in Hong Kong
HONG KONG - Hong Kong marine police have arrested 33
Vietnamese illegal immigrants off outlying Lamma Island,
a spokesman said on Saturday.
Police intercepted a motorised wooden vessel close to Yuen Kok
off Lamma Island late Friday.
Thirty-three Vietnamese men, aged between 16 and 50, were
found on board the vessel and have been detained for further
inquiries.
Four of the passengers aboard the vessel were suspected of
being the masterminds behind the human smuggling operation.
Initial enquiries revealed the men left Vietnam on March 20 and
had paid about $200 for the voyage.
The police spokesman reiterated a warning that all illegal
immigrants would be repatriated immediately.
As of May 2001, the Hong Kong government has repatriated
15,145 illegal immigrants to Vietnam under a deal reached with
Hanoi in October 1991.
In June 2000, Hong Kong allowed around 1,000 Vietnamese
refugees to remain in the territory after the last Hong Kong-based
Vietnamese detention camp was closed and they were unable to
resettle them overseas.
The closure brought to an end the 25-year boat people saga
which began with the fall of Saigon to communist North
Vietnamese forces in April 1975.
The then-British administration of Hong Kong declared the colony
a port of first asylum for anyone fleeing Vietnam, allowing them
automatic refugee status and eligibility for resettlement in the
West.
Agence France Presse - March 30, 2002.
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