Government Protecting Deportees: Official
Nearly 200 deportees have been sent by the US government to Cambodia since mid-2002, following convictions of crimes and time served in
Q. Cambodian immigrants and Cambodian-Americans areconcerned that family members who are deported by the US government could serve in Cambodia’s jails. Is this possible? A. I would like to tell the Cambodian people that under theconstitution of the Kingdomof Cambodia, thegovernment has an obligation to protect all Cambodian people, wherever theylive. Please don’t worry. The government has the obligation to protect all ofyou. Q. Could you clarify the government procedure for managingdeportees? A. I would like to tell you that this is our bloodand we don’t want everybody who is our blood who have arrived in our Cambodia tofurther suffer or face any other guilt. We must do everything to protect ourpeople after they are deported, and only our homeland can take care of them andprovide them shelter. Q. How many Cambodian immigrants have arrived in Cambodia since the USgovernment began deporting them, and when did the US government start to deport them? A. The US government has deported 189 Cambodian immigrants,including one woman, within 19 times. Q. How many Cambodian immigrants will be deported next? A. We really don’t know how many Cambodian immigrants willbe deported, but after we agree with each other we respect a case-by-casepolicy. Q. What do you mean case by case? A. First, our Cambodian people had not yet become UScitizens when they committed crimes over there. They must serve jail time overthere, and after they serve jail time over there then their Cambodian homelandwelcomes them, because they are still Cambodian citizens. So we need to checkcase by case, whether they are our Cambodian citizens or not. Q. What are the living conditions of those deportees in Cambodia? A. Among the 189 deportees, 159 were picked up theirfamilies and brought back to their homelands. Thirty-one other deportees havestill not yet found their families and are supported by the nongovernmentalorganization called RISP (Returnee Integration Support Program). RISP ishelping them by providing education and seeking jobs for them to do. Q. When did the Cambodian and US governments agree on thedeportation issue and what is the exchange for this? A. I don’t think we have an exchange for this deportationissue. I think they all still Cambodian because they haven’t changed theircitizenship yet. Even if they changed their citizenship, they are stillCambodian. Our government does everything by the limit of the law. I reallydon’t have any exchanges. If they made our people suffer, then we must have ourobligation to take care them. Q. When did the Cambodian government and the US agree on thedeportation issue? A. I think it is since June 22, 2002, after aMemorandum of Understanding between Cambodiaand the United Statesgovernment. I think that the deportations started then. Q. Countries such as Vietnamor Laosdid not accept returnees. But Cambodiadid. Senio government advisor Om Yintieng has said that if the Cambodiangovernment did not accept the returness, the USwould have restricted or halted visas to Cambodians hoping to visit the US. A. I have only oneanswer, that if our people are being expelled, where should our people live?They have their own homeland. So they can come back to their homeland. Khmerhas only one homeland. Our homeland is the Angkorhomeland. Q. What kind of support do they receive from the government? A. We are trying hardto let their families know about their presence in Cambodia, and then it will becomenormal, because Cambodian people never let their relatives starve to death.