UN considers Vietnam refugee cases

Vietnam has sent troops to ethnic minority areas recently

By Owen Bennett-Jones in Sen Monorom, Cambodia

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees says it is considering whether or not to grant refugee status to 160 Vietnamese asylum seekers who have crossed the border into Cambodia.

The 160 people are currently living in a makeshift camp in Cambodia's remote Mondulkiri province in difficult conditions.

The UN has provided them with some plastic sheeting, but it offers little protection against the rain and the wind.

There are reports of some other Vietnamese asylum seekers who have been forcibly returned to Vietnam.

Fleeing persecution

The asylum seekers are from ethnic minority hill tribes in Vietnam.

Ethnic minorities have been angry over religious repression and loss of land

They made it to Cambodia by walking through the jungle on foot.

They have already been in Cambodia for nearly a week and are waiting for UN officials to determine their status.

Last month, a similar group of 38 Vietnamese asylum seekers were granted refugee status and they have already been resettled in the United States.

Like those 38 people, the group of 160 say they are fleeing harassment and persecution back at home.

Earlier this year there were violent anti-government protests in Vietnam's Central Highlands.

Forcible returns

The asylum seekers say they finally decided to escape Vietnam because they were afraid they would be arrested following those disturbances.

There are reports that over the last few weeks, many other asylum seekers made it to Cambodia but were forcibly returned to Vietnam by local Cambodian officials working in collusion with the Vietnamese authorities.

UNHCR officials say they are very concerned about the reports of forcible returns and are currently investigating them.