Fleeing Vietnamese found in Cambodia

More Vietnamese are leaving after recent unrest

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has discovered a group of Vietnamese asylum-seekers hiding in a jungle in Cambodia.

The 52 Vietnamese had crossed the Vietnamese-Cambodian border and were hiding in a remote area in the north east of the country when UNHCR found them.

They immediately asked for asylum, saying they feared persecution back at home.

Since the Vietnamese government suppressed anti-government riots by ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands region earlier this year, hundreds of people have been trying to get out of Vietnam.

Nearly 250 Vietnamese asylum seekers have successfully fled Vietnam, of which 38 have been settled in the United States.

'Deport them'

An international refugee advocacy group, Refugees International, has accused Vietnamese authorities of hunting down its fleeing citizens on Cambodian soil.

There have been widespread reports that over the last few weeks hundreds of Vietnamese have been picked up by local Cambodian officials and sent home.

The BBC's Owen Bennet-Jones says the latest group were more fortunate because they were found by the UNHCR which had been tipped-off by local human rights activists.

The UN has reports that some of them were led away in handcuffs when handed over to Vietnamese border officials.

The outflow of citizens has frustrated and embarrassed the Vietnamese government.

A spokeswoman in Hanoi has described the asylum seekers were illegal immigrants and demanded that Cambodia forcibly return them to Vietnam.

In a thinly-concealed reference to the UNHCR, she said that outside interference only complicates the situation.