VN-UNHCR meeting on implementation of tripartite agreement
Ha Noi, Feb. 14 (VNA) -- Viet Nam has re-affirmed that all illegal migrants to Cambodia will not be tried, punished or discriminated against because of their past acts when they return to Viet Nam.
As agreed upon by Viet Nam, Cambodia and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Phnom Penh last month, Viet Nam has informed its relevant agencies and localities as well as the families of illegal migrants in Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces to prepare everything necessary to welcome their relatives, who will repatriate in safety and dignity.
Viet Nam's permanent Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dinh Bin met with J. Assadi, UNHCR Regional Representative for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam, in Ha Noi on Feb.11, to discuss a concrete plan to carry out the agreement reached by Viet Nam, Cambodia and UNHCR at the Jan. 21 tripartite meeting on the repatriation of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands, who had illegally fled to Cambodia.
According to a UNHCR report, more than 100 illegal migrants at camps in Ratanakiri wanted to return immediately. Viet Nam asked the UNHCR to arrange an early return for these people to help them join their families for Tet (Viet Nam's traditional Lunar New Year Festival), particularly those who are ill.
However, at the request of the UNHCR, which still wishes to pay visits to families of illegal migrants before it travels to Cambodia to meet with these migrants, Viet Nam, with its willingness, and the UNHCR have agreed to allow UNHCR staff members to visit some families of illegal migrants in Gia Lai and Kon Tum on Feb.12-13 and then to travel to Cambodia on Feb.14-15, and in late Feb 15, the UNHCR will provide Viet Nam with a list of those who wish to return in the first batch.
In the morning of Feb.16, the listed returnees will be supplied with means of transport by the UNHCR to come back to Viet Nam in safety guaranteed by Viet Nam and Cambodia.--VNA
