Australia asks impoverished Cambodia to take some asylum seekers

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(Reuters) - Australia asked Cambodia, one of Asia's poorest countries, on Saturday to take in asylum seekers detained while trying to reach the Australian coast and Cambodia said it would think about it.

Australia's government came to power last year partly because of a tough stance on asylum seekers arriving from Indonesia with Prime Minister Tony Abbott promising to "stop the boats".

Australia already has offshore detention centers in the impoverished South Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru for asylum seekers it intercepts, often in rickety boats.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop asked Prime Minister Hun Sen if Cambodia, which in the 1970s and 1980s saw a huge exodus of refugees fleeing war and starvation, could also house some migrants.

"The Australian minister has requested that Cambodia takes in some refugees," Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong told a news briefing with Bishop.

"In the past, Cambodians have fled their country to other countries but now, it's time that Cambodia takes in refugees from other countries," he said.

Hun Sen would "take serious consideration" of the request, Hor Namhong said.

In her comments, Bishop did not refer directly to the Australian request but said she had discussed cooperation with Cambodia in various areas including people smuggling.

The number of asylum seekers reaching Australia pales in comparison with other countries but it is a polarizing political issue that also stokes tension with neighboring Indonesia over border policies that have been criticized by the United Nations and international human rights groups.

One asylum seeker was killed and about 80 were hurt in rioting last week at the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said the Manus camp should be shut because it fails to provide "safe and humane conditions of treatment in detention".

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/22/us-cambodia-australia-idUSBREA1L06D20140222

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RFA update

The Cambodian government said Monday that it has agreed to study a request by Australia to accept some of the continent’s asylum seekers but civil society groups said the proposal should be rejected because of Cambodia’s inadequate immigration laws and ongoing human rights violations.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s administration came to power last year partly based on his vow to stop a flood of asylum seekers from Indonesia, and over the weekend Foreign Minister Julie Bishop asked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen if his country could take on some of the intercepted migrants.

Australia already maintains detention centers in the South Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru, but has come under criticism by international rights groups and the United Nations for unsafe conditions at the facilities.

On Monday, Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan told RFA’s Khmer Service that the Ministry of Interior would study Australia’s request to house some of the migrants in Cambodia, which itself saw an exodus of refugees fleeing war and starvation during the bloody Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.

“Cambodia and Australia are working together for good cooperation and … Samdech [Hun Sen] has asked the Ministry of Interior to study the case before responding to the request to accept asylum seekers,” Phay Siphan said.

The government will come to a decision based on humanitarian needs and its ability to ensure that no refugees seek asylum for economic reasons or to use Cambodia as a base for a campaign against a foreign power, he said. Cambodia will also refuse entry to political asylum seekers.

“For these reasons, Samdech has ordered the Ministry of Interior to study the case because we have no experience allowing asylum seekers into our country yet,” Phay Siphan said.

“Right now, we are at a study stage and have not made any decision yet.”

Phay Siphan called on the United Nations to take a greater role in providing assistance to the asylum seekers, though he did not elaborate.

“However, Cambodia and Australia are partners. We are considering our ability to accept the asylum seekers,” he said.

Cambodia ‘not ready’

Rights groups on Monday criticized Cambodia’s consideration of the request, saying the country lacked the expertise to deal with asylum seekers and must also address its own problems, including a seven-month-old political deadlock following disputed elections and a lagging rights record.

Am Sam Ath, senior investigator for nongovernmental organization Licadho, told RFA that Cambodia is “not ready to accept any asylum seekers yet.”

“Cambodia hasn’t effectively implemented immigration and nationality laws yet,” he said.

“We need better laws before we can accept immigrants.”

Am Sam Ath added that Cambodia is “still facing human rights violations” and an ongoing political stalemate between Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) following disputed elections in July last year.

He also slammed Cambodia’s history of repatriating asylum seekers to their countries of origin.

Ignoring abuses

Also on Monday, New York-based Human Rights Watch took the Australian government to task for ignoring Cambodia’s rights record for its own ends.

“The Australian government should be pressing Cambodia on human rights issues … but instead [it] appears to be holding hands with the Cambodian government and actually asking for Cambodia’s help for Australia to commit rights abusing actions,” Phil Robertson, deputy director of the group’s Asia division, told RFA.

He called the request a move to “essentially ignore the obligations of Australia to protect and receive refugees under the Refugee Convention,” he said, noting that both countries are signatories of the charter.

“What we have here is a connivance between two governments to help each other evade international human rights responsibilities, and it’s a very shameful day for Australia-Cambodia bilateral relations.”

Robertson said Cambodia is already an impoverished country that lacks the necessary services to provide for asylum seekers and has frequently repatriated them to countries where they may face persecution, “so it’s hard to understand why the Australian government thinks that Cambodia would be a safe place to send refugees.”

He said it appeared Australia was “shopping to the highest bidder” a contract for a country to take refugees that it doesn’t want.

“It looks like Cambodia may be ultimately offered quite a bit of money by Australia to take refugees and one wonders what this is going to mean for the larger issue of refugee protection in Cambodia,” he said.

Asylum policy

While Australia faces a small number of asylum seekers in comparison to other countries, its policy for accepting them has led to a heated debate in the region.

Last week, at the country’s Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea, one asylum seeker was killed and around 80 injured during a riot, according to a report by Reuters news agency.

The report quoted the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which has said the Manus camp should be shut because it fails to provide "safe and humane conditions of treatment in detention."

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia—one of Cambodia’s largest aid donors—has provided the country more than $329 million Australian dollars (U.S. $297 million) over the past four years.

Australia was also quick to recognize Hun Sen's election victory, despite claims of voting irregularities.

Reported and translated by Samean Yun for RFA’s Khmer Service. Written in English by Joshua Lipes.

[Tomtomtom69]

On the matter of Cambodia's immigration laws not being "adequate enough" I take exception. Cambodia has the easiest immigration laws in the world. All you need is a bit of money (US$25 + US$280-300 for a one year extension), a valid passport and a photograph and you can stay forever, no other documents required. I read somewhere that after 5? years on consecutive 1-year extensions you can apply for citizenship? Or you can make a donation of US$265,000 to the government and get it anytime as outlined in my Cambodia guidebook for investors. Obviously I wouldn't expect very many poor migrants to be able to afford this...nor anyone else for that matter. But with 1-year visa renewals so easy, why bother with citizenship anyway?

The only problem I see is that undocumented migrants aren't eligible to enter Cambodia as they don't have a passport. If they do have a passport but it's from a country like Iraq then they can also expect difficulties entering Cambodia as visas-on-arrival are not available for such nationals. But the ability to stay for long periods in Cambodia is there, for over 90% of the world's citizens. It's MUCH easier to stay in Cambodia long term than proving your way to getting a long term visa or residency permit for Australia; much easier.

I agree that a country as poor as Cambodia probably doesn't have the resources to accept asylum seekers though.

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From the Cambodian point of view, this is just a way to obtain money.
I was working in the refugees camps in Thailand 25 years ago and it was already the point.
This is VERY normal for Cambodia 2014 or Thailand 80's.
Cambodia has land. If Australia want to use the land, they have to pay. To pay A LOT.
In the 80's in Thailand the official law was: any THB spent for the refugees => UNHCR have to spend the same amount for Thai population around the border (in example, building schools). NORMAL request because, if not, the refugees would have a better life than the Thais.
And I guess that the unofficial law was: corruption to Thai authoroties to sign the authorizations at any level (just speculation from my side, no proof at all). UNHCR paid thrice: once for the refugees, once for the locals around, once for the authorities.
We have to remember that Thais was not ready to accommodate the Khmers in 1977 / 78 / 79. Please remember the infamous episode of Preah Vihar in June 1979 when Thai army pushed Khmer refugees in the cliff. We speak about 3,000 deaths.
There is no poor country ready to take refugees just for humanitarian reasons and it's something we can easily understand.

[simple1]

Nothing to do with the cost of land and so on in Oz, it's all about deterrence and domestic political pressure. Oz now has a policy that all asylum seekers trying to enter by sea will never be permitted to stay on Australian soil, but transhipped to another willing (paid) country and held in detention camps; currently they are PNG and Nauru. Asylum seekers are not permitted to apply for resettlement to a third party country, even if they are assessed as legitimate.

Both UNHCR and Oz Govt have confirmed that to date roughly 10 percent who arrive by sea are assessed as economic refugees. Interestingly those arriving by air and then immediately claiming asylum have an assessment rate of 50 percent being economic refugees and are not subject to the very harsh regime that applies to boat arrivals even though they often present false documentation.

Right now doesn't appear to be any detail, but will probably be the same policy for Cambo if the request gets the nod.