Cambodia releases more details on asylum seeker deal with Australia

[geovalin]

Lindsay Murdoch

Phnom Penh: Cambodia has revealed its authorities will investigate the backgrounds of refugees Australia plans to send to the impoverished nation and will insist they must sign consent forms.

The country's foreign minister, Hor Namhong, has also confirmed to Fairfax Media that those who come to settle in Cambodia must be approved as genuine refugees under the 1951 Convention on refugees.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has meanwhile indicated progress in talks with Cambodia at a party room meeting in Canberra on Tuesday, saying: "The discussions are going well but we have not yet reached an agreement."

In the same meeting Foreign Affairs minister Julie Bishop said Cambodia was an "aspirational nation "that was determined elevate itself from poverty.

Refugee advocates predict many of the about 1000 people Australia has slated initially to be sent to Cambodia from the tiny Pacific Island of Nauru will refuse to settle in South-East Asia country, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the controversial agreement.

Asked whether the refugees would be forced if they refuse to come to Cambodia, Mr Hor Namhong said "the express consent of the individual refugee must be respected".

"Refugees must fill up consent forms including the personal data forms (and) submit them to the Cambodian competent officials for examination before resettlement," he said.

It was not immediately clear how Cambodia would conduct the background checks on refugees from Nauru.

An asylum seeker on Nauru said earlier this month that refugees on the island will not agree to travel to Cambodia, one of world's poorest nations where strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen has ruled with a iron-first for decades.

"People come to get protection from Australia . . . why would they go to Camboda?" said the man who was in Australia for medical treatment.

"It's not a developed country. It is poor. It cannot look after refugees."

Mr Hor Namhong said talks with Australia were in the "final stage" after authorities in Phnom Penh sent the Abbott government a draft of the agreement.

He said a memorandum of understanding and operational guidelines would be put in place but declined to give details.

"The refugees' permanent and voluntary resettlement in Cambodia is fundamentally undertaken on the humanitarian spirit," Mr Hor Namhong said.

Asked whether a greater presence of international agencies such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) would be required in Cambodia, Mr Hor Namhong said "the presence and support by any humanitarian organisation or agency such as the UNHCR is welcome and appreciated".

The UNHCR has only a two-person office in the country where some of its leaders, including Mr Hun Sen, were themselves refugees who fled the ranks of the murderous Khmer Rouge rule in the mid-1970s.

The Australian government has not made public any details about the plan that has prompted a storm of criticism from Cambodian and international human rights groups, non-government organisations and Cambodia's opposition parties.

The refugees will be expected to assimilate into a society where 40 per cent of people live in poverty.

They will have no rights to be transferred to another country.

Virak Ou, chairman of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, earlier this month accused Australia of irresponsibly exporting its own problem.

"We mistreated our own people and have failed to protect the human rights of our own people . . . we don't have the capacity or the will," he said.

"There's no reason for Australia to believe that Cambodia will protect the rights of refugees, which to me is very irresponsible of Australia."

Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy described the deal as a "disgrace", saying Australian money would be diverted into the pockets of Cambodia's corrupt leaders.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned the agreement, saying Cambodia was a vulnerable nation still recovering for years of civil war and was unable to provide for its own people.

However, the UN's deputy high commissioner for human rights, Flavia Pansieri, said the UN would be willing to provide "support to ensure that standards are met''.

Of 68 asylum seekers or refugees already living in Cambodia most are desperate to be relocated to another country, welfare groups say.

They have not being given work permits so they cannot work officially and they cannot open bank accounts or send money overseas, meaning laws and regulations will have to be changed to give greater rights to any refugees arriving under the Australian agreement.

With Sarah Whyte

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/cambodia-releases-more-details-on-asylum-seeker-deal-with-australia-20140603-39fsm.html#ixzz33cuM3lgj

[Tomtomtom69]

What's wrong with Cambodia? There are an increasing number of rich foreigners going there to live their lives. Obviously you need money to live there and can't expect to receive any handouts from the government (even as locals). But I find it laughably condescending the attitude of some refugees who obviously know nothing about Cambodia and then look down on the country. However, what I do appreciate is that the situation may be quite different if you don't have a passport or any money. A passport and business visa (easily purchased) is all that one needs to live in Cambodia indefinitely, provided enough money is available for the visa fees to be paid. I don't really expect the Cambodian government to pay these fees for anyone as that's how they are supposed to make money (presumably the Aussie government will be responsible in this case though) but I wouldn't have a clue as to how passport less refugees who may be stateless would be treated.

[hanno]

As if Cambodia didn't have enough problems of its own. But then the powers that be are so busy to sell out that Cambodia as a country probably won't exist in a few more years.