Montagnard Deportation Sparks Protest
A police attempt to deport 29 Vietnam Montagnards whose refugee applications were rejected led to a protest outside a safe house in Phn
A police attempt to deport 29 Vietnam Montagnards whoserefugee applications had been rejected led to a protest outside a UN refugee housein Phnom Penh'sTuol Kork district Friday morning. "They were worried that [the UN High Commissioner forRefugees] would deport them to Vietnam,"Cambodian Center for Human Rights investigator IngKong Chit said. "They asked UNHCR not to send them back to their homevillages, because they are afraid of oppression." Three of the deportees initially escaped police attempts toreturn the Montagnards to Vietnam,though one was caught and returned with 26 others. Two returned to the refugee house and led a protest of about 50more Montagnards over the deportation. Montagnards have been crossing theCambodian-Vietnamese border at Ratanakkiri and Mondolkiri provinces since 2001 seeking refugee status from the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees. Those who are not granted refugee protectionare returned to Vietnam. "They [make a claim] to go to third countries, but notto be sent to Vietnam,"UNHCR field protection officer Chung Ravuth said. "This is the main topicthat they demonstrated over. And then we called them to come inside and startnegotiating. We promised them that we would settle the problem." More than 400 Montagnards are staying in refugee housesacross Phnom Penh,Chung Ravuth said. More than 1,000 refugees have been accepted as refugees andmoved to third countries since 2001, most of them by the US, he said.