Cambodia unlikely to cope with resettlement of refugees, report finds
Questions
raised on transfer of refugees from Australian detention centres after
it was revealed Cambodia has not legally resettled a refugee in five
years
In five years of processing a tiny numbers of refugees, Cambodia has
failed to legally resettle a single refugee, raising concerns about the
country’s capacity to cope with a new influx resettled from Australia,
Human Rights Watch has found.
Cambodia has never issued a residence card or citizenship to a refugee, a Human Rights Watch report released on Friday revealed.
Cambodia will soon begin accepting refugees from Australian-run detention centres for permanent resettlement. They will be resettled somewhere outside the capital Phnom Penh with Australian government support.
Currently, there are 63 refugees in Cambodia.
None has been issued a residence permit to ensure they have the same rights as other immigrants, as required by Cambodian domestic law.
Instead, refugees are issued a “prakas”, a proclamation from the interior ministry that allows them to stay in the country, but cannot be used to open bank accounts, lease a home to live in, get a job, or enrol children in school.
Refugees carrying a “prakas” are regularly extorted by police and authorities.
“This piece of paper [prakas] is absolutely useless,” a refugee told Human Rights Watch. “To get a job, a driver’s license, open a bank account, buy a motorbike, or even receive a wire transfer, you need to show a passport, not this piece of paper.”
Human Rights Watch found refugees live in extreme poverty. Many could not earn enough money to eat, and were reliant on charity for food. Refugee children are regularly turned away from schools.
“The Australian government shouldn’t make the refugees in Nauru suffer further by dumping them in a place unable to adequately resettle or reintegrate them,” Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch said
“Cambodia should fix its faulty refugee protection and support services frameworks, before accepting any refugees from Nauru, and the Australian government should insist on that.”
The Australian government signed an MOU with Cambodia in September for the resettlement of refugees.
The proposed deal was originally slated for up to 1,000 refugees to be resettled, but it’s understood the program will be small initially, with possibly as few as four or five refugees.
Refugees currently held in Australian-run offshore detention centres have to agree to be moved. Currently, none have said they will go.
Instead, detainees on Nauru have held regular protests condemning the Cambodia deal, some holding up signs saying “only our corpses will go to Cambodia”.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, currently in Cambodia, told Guardian Australia in Phnom Penh there would be no future for resettled refugees in Cambodia: “Before long, families might be on the move again.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has similarly condemned Australia’s proposed deal as deeply concerning, saying refugees were “entitled to better treatment that being shipped from one country to the next”.
But immigration minister Scott Morrison has maintained it is too early to judge Cambodia’s ability to accommodate and support resettled refugees.
“The on-the-ground arrangement are not in place at the moment and it is still going to be some time before they get in place,” he said on radio.
Under the MOU signed with Cambodia, Australia has pledged to provide refugees with settlement support for 12 months, including basic needs and daily subsistence, language and vocational training, education in local schools, and health services.
Resettled refugees will be entitled to sponsor their family to move to Cambodia.
Cambodia has never issued a residence card or citizenship to a refugee, a Human Rights Watch report released on Friday revealed.
Cambodia will soon begin accepting refugees from Australian-run detention centres for permanent resettlement. They will be resettled somewhere outside the capital Phnom Penh with Australian government support.
Currently, there are 63 refugees in Cambodia.
None has been issued a residence permit to ensure they have the same rights as other immigrants, as required by Cambodian domestic law.
Instead, refugees are issued a “prakas”, a proclamation from the interior ministry that allows them to stay in the country, but cannot be used to open bank accounts, lease a home to live in, get a job, or enrol children in school.
Refugees carrying a “prakas” are regularly extorted by police and authorities.
“This piece of paper [prakas] is absolutely useless,” a refugee told Human Rights Watch. “To get a job, a driver’s license, open a bank account, buy a motorbike, or even receive a wire transfer, you need to show a passport, not this piece of paper.”
Human Rights Watch found refugees live in extreme poverty. Many could not earn enough money to eat, and were reliant on charity for food. Refugee children are regularly turned away from schools.
“The Australian government shouldn’t make the refugees in Nauru suffer further by dumping them in a place unable to adequately resettle or reintegrate them,” Elaine Pearson, Australia director at Human Rights Watch said
“Cambodia should fix its faulty refugee protection and support services frameworks, before accepting any refugees from Nauru, and the Australian government should insist on that.”
The Australian government signed an MOU with Cambodia in September for the resettlement of refugees.
The proposed deal was originally slated for up to 1,000 refugees to be resettled, but it’s understood the program will be small initially, with possibly as few as four or five refugees.
Refugees currently held in Australian-run offshore detention centres have to agree to be moved. Currently, none have said they will go.
Instead, detainees on Nauru have held regular protests condemning the Cambodia deal, some holding up signs saying “only our corpses will go to Cambodia”.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, currently in Cambodia, told Guardian Australia in Phnom Penh there would be no future for resettled refugees in Cambodia: “Before long, families might be on the move again.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has similarly condemned Australia’s proposed deal as deeply concerning, saying refugees were “entitled to better treatment that being shipped from one country to the next”.
But immigration minister Scott Morrison has maintained it is too early to judge Cambodia’s ability to accommodate and support resettled refugees.
“The on-the-ground arrangement are not in place at the moment and it is still going to be some time before they get in place,” he said on radio.
Under the MOU signed with Cambodia, Australia has pledged to provide refugees with settlement support for 12 months, including basic needs and daily subsistence, language and vocational training, education in local schools, and health services.
Resettled refugees will be entitled to sponsor their family to move to Cambodia.
That is absolutely correct. Cambodians people can't even find the job for themselves in Cambodia. What would the Nauru refugees be doing there? The corrupt Viet-controlled regime of Hun Sen is going to pocket the moneys among themselves thus leaving those woud-be resettled Nauru refugees high an dry... and there isn't a damn thing the world can do about it. By hook or by crook, that one-eye Viper by the name of Hun Sen must be removed!
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