05/24/2002

May 24, 2001

H.E. Samdech Hun Sen
Prime Minister
Royal Government of Cambodia
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Excellency:

First, I would like to express my appreciation for the leadership that you showed in March when you offered protection and asylum to 24 Vietnamese Montagnard refugees crossing into Mondulkiri province. Cambodia set a fine example through this initial response to the refugee inflow from Vietnam.

Unfortunately, new refugees entering Cambodia are not receiving the same protection. I just returned from Mondulkiri province where I heard reports of forced repatriation to Vietnam. The provincial authorities appear to be denying the protection required to the refugees under international conventions despite assurances given at the national level to representatives of the UN High Commission for Refugees by Minister of Interior H.E. Sar Kheng that asylum would be provided.

I understand that Vietnam, not Cambodia, has created this refugee problem in the first place. Vietnam has made the problem worse by sending military and police officials across the border to hunt down refugees and bring them back to Vietnam. This puts your government in a difficult position. Vietnam must stop forcing people to flee and must stop violating Cambodia's sovereignty by sending its military and police officials across the border.

In the face of this difficult situation, Refugees International requests that Cambodia take the following steps:

• Instruct local officials in the provincial governments of Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri to guarantee temporary asylum for Montagnard refugees fleeing Vietnam;
  
  
• Insist that Vietnam withdraw its military and police officials from Cambodian territory and stop hunting down refugees.
  
  
• Provide security at sites where refugees are sheltered.

Many Cambodians are alive today because they received asylum in Thailand and Vietnam. You yourself had to flee Cambodia and find safety for you and your family in Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge period. Now you have the opportunity to reciprocate by granting protection to Montagnard refugees fleeing persecution in Vietnam. This is a moment for Cambodia to demonstrate leadership in the cause of protection and freedom.

With the Consultative Group meetings coming up in Tokyo on June 12-13, this is an ideal time for Cambodia to show courage and leadership on the issue of refugee protection. Donors will likely react quite favorably to Cambodia meeting its international obligations in this difficult situation.

Sincerely yours,

Lionel A. Rosenblatt
President Emeritus