Jesuit Refugee Service in Cambodia provides legal and social assistance for refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Iran, Vietnam, and parts of Africa. UNHCR refers asylum seekers to JRS's lawyer for initial claims and appeals for refugee status. Social workers assist refugees with renting houses, marketing, educational opportunities, health and general orientation to life in Cambodia. Nearly all remain in urban Phnom Penh, most desiring resettlement to a third country. Many become depressed as they reluctantly grasp that local integration may become their only durable solution. To date, documents allowing employment to refugees are not available, travel documents are difficult to obtain and refugees do not want to choose education in Cambodian schools. However on the whole, the urban refugees in Cambodia have been allowed to rebuild their lives peacefully in Phnom Penh, in contrast with other Southeast Asian countries known for their harsh treatment of illegal immigrants.
When it signed the Refugee Convention ten years ago, Cambodia was at the forefront in Asia in safeguarding and protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers. However, the enormous task of nation building and providing for the basic needs of its impoverished population have made maintaining its international obligations less of a priority and the year 2002 was marked by some unfortunate incidents of failure to protected refugees. A dissident Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Vulnerable Thich Tri Luc, disappeared while in Phnom Penh and is feared to have been forcibly taken back to Vietnam. A few weeks later, two Chinese Falun Gong practitioners were arrested and deported to China, where they are now detained. All three persons were under the protection of the UNHCR.
Resettlement of refugees to third countries has become more difficult, but the United States and Norway still surprisingly accepted some refugees from Cambodia. One Afghan refugee family was the lucky winner of the US diversity visa lottery. The largest case was that of the Vietnamese Montagnards from the Central Highlands, a highly contentious issue that engaged Cambodia, Vietnam and UNHCR for over a year, until the United States intervened and offered resettlement to the 905 refugees in the UNHCR camps in Mondol Kiri and Rottanak Kiri. More than half of the group has since left for the USA but the resettlement of the remainder goes slowly. Reports of Montagnards being forcibly returned to Vietnam are frequent.
The asylum Cambodia grants to refugees needs to be made meaningful by issuing work permits. Local legislation needs to be passed to implement the provisions of the Refugee Convention in order that Cambodia can be a durable place for refugees, and that asylum seekers right to seek refugee may be protected.
JRS Cambodia is linked to JRS Rome and JRS Asia Pacific in advocacy and information dissemination.
