domingo, 7 de junho de 2015

AUSTRALIA’S UNWANTED REFUGEES LAND IN CAMBODIA

By Asian Correspondent Staff 

Four asylum seekers rejected by Australia landed in Cambodia Tuesday morning, the first to arrive under a controversial deal signed between the two countries in September last year.

The four – two Iranian men, an Iranian woman and a Rohingya man from Burma – landed on a Malaysia Airlines flight to Phnom Penh this morning. Airport and police officials confirmed the Thursday arrival of the group.

The Phnom Penh Post reported: “Minutes after the flight landed, a van believed to be carrying the refugees left the VIP terminal at the airport with its curtains pulled shut.”

The AUS$40 million ($32 million) deal sparked protests in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh after its announcement last year and has been sharply criticised by human rights organisations.

Pisey Ly, a grassroots Cambodian activist who advocates for marginalized groups such as homeless migrants and sex workers, told Asian Correspondent last year: “Although Australian and Cambodian governments claimed that they’re only sending and receiving refugees who voluntarily agreed to be resettled in Cambodia, I question whether or not those refugees have… a real choice. They ran from their own countries escaping war, conflicts, violence, political threats and poverty, and seek a better place for survival and protection.”

The four were among more than 600 held on the the island of Nauru, where Australia has been sending its unwanted asylum seekers. They are believed to be the only asylum seekers on the island to accept the resettlement deal so far.

The Age reported Thursday: “They were transferred to a villa in a Phnom Penh suburb where they will live for months while receiving language and other training and benefits including $15,000, accommodation, income support and health insurance.”

Photo: reporters trying to film and photograph the van carrying 4 refugees at Phnom Penh airport (Panu Wongcha-um)

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Additional reporting from Associated Press

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