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Saturday 10 October 2015

Cambodia must stop refoulement of Montagnard asylum seekers to Viet Nam

Amnesty International Joint statement, 24 September 2015

The principle of non-refoulement is a cornerstone of refugee and human rights law. Underrefugee law, it bars the return of anyone in any manner whatsoever to a place where theywould be at real risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations. Underinternational human rights law, it bars the transfer of persons to places where they wouldbe at risk of serious human rights violations, irrespective of the reasons for such violations.


Cambodia must stop refoulement of Montagnard asylum seekers to Viet Nam
We, the below signed civil society organizations are concerned about the possible
refoulement by the Cambodian government of more than 100 Montagnard asylum seekers
to Viet Nam and call on Cambodia not to take such action. Instead, Cambodia should
uphold its legal obligations under the Refugee Convention and international human rights
law and initiate Refugee Status Determination procedures for all individuals currently
seeking asylum in the county.

There are currently at least 100 Montagnards – a term used loosely to refer to members of
various minority groups in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands – seeking asylum in Cambodia.
Some Montagnards practice forms of Christianity banned by the Vietnamese government,
and those seeking asylum in Cambodia are claiming religious and other persecution. After
recognising 13 Montagnards as refugees in March 2015, the Cambodian authorities have
refused to register the asylum claims of at least 100 more.

On 12 September, General Khieu Sopheak, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior,
was quoted in The Cambodia Daily stating that the authorities had requested the UN
refugee agency, UNHCR, to resettle the 13 individuals whose refugee status has been
recognised to a third country and had sought assistance from UNHCR in repatriating the
remaining individuals to Viet Nam. According to Khieu Sopheak, if these individuals are
not repatriated by early November 2015, the Cambodian authorities will forcibly return
them.

As a party to the Refugee Convention, Cambodia is under a legal obligation to register all
individuals seeking asylum in the country and to evaluate their asylum claims through
prompt and effective Refugee Status Determination procedures. This would be a first step
towards giving content to the right to seek and to enjoy asylum in another country, as 
provided for by Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


The principle of non-refoulement is a cornerstone of refugee and human rights law. Under
refugee law, it bars the return of anyone in any manner whatsoever to a place where they
would be at real risk of persecution or other serious human rights violations. Under
international human rights law, it bars the transfer of persons to places where they would
be at risk of serious human rights violations, irrespective of the reasons for such violations.
For instance, under Article 3 of the UN Convention against Torture, to which Cambodia is
a party, states may not return a person to another territory where there are substantial
grounds for believing the person would be subject to torture.

In February 2015, at least 45 Montagnards were forcibly returned by Cambodia to Viet
Nam in violation of the principle of non-refoulement, in a move that was roundly
condemned by human rights groups.1

In the intervening period, at least 12 Montagnards
have returned to Viet Nam with assistance from UNHCR after the Cambodian authorities
refused to register their asylum claims.2
Human Rights Watch recently documented religious persecution of Christian Montagnards
by the authorities of Viet Nam, including “arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and other
cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment”.
3 Vietnamese media reports establish that the
government maintains its determination to suppress what it deems “evil way” religious
practices.

The individuals currently seeking asylum in Cambodia face a high possibility of retaliation
by the Vietnamese authorities if they are forcibly returned by Cambodia to Viet Nam.
Cambodia’s request to UNHCR for assistance to resettle the 13 recognised refugees to a
third country indicates the country’s failure to understand their legal obligations to
recognised refugees under the Refugee Convention. Resettlement is a durable solution
that should be pursued if it is the best available option for refugees in a specific case. It
should not be used by states parties to circumvent their obligations under the Refugee
Convention. Until resettlement is possible or if it is not the best available solution in the
case of the 13, Cambodia must honour its obligations to these individuals by upholding
the panoply of rights owed to refugees as outlined in the Convention.

Cambodia’s treatment of Montagnard refugees and asylum seekers stands in stark contrast
to the efforts being made to accommodate four refugees previously sent to Cambodia from
Nauru Island under a $40 million AUD agreement with Australia, which itself violates the
Refugee Convention.4 On 14 September, two days after his comments outlining the plans
to illegally refoule the Montagnard asylum seekers to Viet Nam, General Khieu Sopheak
announced that officials from the Ministry of Interior were being sent to Nauru to interview
four more refugees – one Burmese and three Iranian nationals – whom he said have agreed
to relocate to Cambodia as part of the deal.

It is time for Cambodia to cease its flagrant abuse of the Refugee Convention and
international human rights law, including the Convention against Torture. We call on
Cambodia to immediately initiate Refugee Status Procedures for Montagnards seeking
asylum in the country and to fully uphold the rights of the 13 Montagnards already 
recognised as refugees. We also call on Viet Nam to cease the persecution of
Montagnards.

Amnesty International
Boat People SOS
Civil Rights Defenders
Coalition to Abolish Modern-day Slavery In Asia (CAMSA)
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Human Rights Watch
International Commission of Jurists
International Federation for Huma Rights (FIDH)
People Serving People Foundation (PSPF)
Vietnam Committee on Human Rights
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
1 See for example, Amnesty International, ‘Cambodia: End refoulement of Montagnard asylum seekers’, 4 March
2015, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa23/1126/2015/en/.
2 See, ‘UN Helps 12 Montagnards Return to Vietnam’, The Cambodia Daily, 17 July 2015, available at
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-helps-12-montagnards-return-to-vietnam-88695/.
3 Human Rights Watch, ‘Persecuting “Evil Way” Religion: Abuses against Montagnards in Vietnam’, 26 June
2015, available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/06/26/persecuting-evil-way-religion/abuses-againstmontagnards-vietnam.
4 See Amnesty International, ‘Cambodia: New deal with Australia signs away refugee rights’, 25 September
2014, available at https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/09/cambodia-new-deal-australia-signs-awayrefugee-rights/.

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