Briefing the press in Geneva, UN officials from the agencies said that the Montagnards are believed to be in north-eastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri Province. Faced with an “extremely precarious” situation, they are reportedly suffering from various physical ailments, including dengue fever and malaria.

They fear arrest and deportation and therefore are afraid to venture out. The Montagnards told local sources that they fled religious persecution in Viet Nam and wish to seek asylum.

In Bangkok this morning, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) issued a joint press release appealing to the Cambodian authorities to take urgent action to ensure that the Montagnard group is escorted to Phnom Penh and given access to the asylum procedure in line with the 1951 Refugee Convention and Cambodia’s sub-decree on refugees and asylum seekers.

A team from Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior, UNHCR and OHCHR travelled to Ratanakiri last week to engage with the local authorities and to locate and talk to the Montagnards.

It was agreed that if the group indicated that they wished to apply for asylum, they would be brought to Phnom Penh to enable them to do so. Despite clear instruction by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng to cooperate with the joint team, local authorities in Ratanakiri refused to allow the team to meet with the group or to transport them to the capital.

Meanwhile, this morning, provincial authorities prevented UN access to the ethnic Jarai villages in the area.

“Between 10:00 and 11:00 local time the joint UN/Ministry of Interior team was stopped at a road block as attempted to enter the area where the Montagnards are believed to be hiding. The team contacted the Governor, but he did not intervene to facilitate their entry,” the release said.

In the meantime, UN officials were informed that provincial police have continued to search for the individuals, possibly with a view to returning them to Viet Nam.

“We believe there are substantial grounds for believing that the Montagnards may be in danger of being subjected to human rights violations if they are returned to their country of origin, Viet Nam,” the statement said.

Montagnard refugees in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: UNHCR/A. Wahjanto