The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network released a joint statement of 68 non-governmental organisations on 14 January 2010, calling on all governments in Asia Pacific to respect the fundamental principle of non-refoulement. Their statement, below, also condemns forced deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia and the Lao Hmong from Thailand.
The Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network released a joint statement of 68 non-governmental organisations on 14 January 2010, calling on all governments in Asia Pacific to respect the fundamental principle of non-refoulement. Their statement, below, also condemns forced deportation of the Uighurs from Cambodia and the Lao Hmong from Thailand.
We, the undersigned,
condemn the actions in the last days of 2009 of some Asian governments in
requesting, encouraging and performing the forcible deportation (refoulement)
of refugees and asylum seekers from Cambodia and Thailand.
We demand that all
governments in the Asia-Pacific region reaffirm the importance of the principle
of non-refoulement of asylum seekers and refugees.
We further call on these
governments and all governments in the Asia-Pacific region to resolve to make
2010 a year in which the basic rights of refugees and asylum seekers are
recognised, including the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.
Uighurs
from Cambodia
On December 19, 2009, in
advance of a visit by Vice President Xi Jinping of China, the government of
Cambodia forcibly repatriated 20 ethnic Uighur asylum seekers to China, before
their claims for asylum had been fully examined. The forced repatriation
occurred despite the protests of the international community, including the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and civil society. Cambodia is a signatory to the 1951 Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees.
Human rights groups,
including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have reported that
Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking ethnic minority, predominantly Muslim and living
mostly in western China, are facing various forms of mistreatment and
persecution which has intensified since the crackdown by the Chinese government
that follows the July 2009 riots in Urumqi.
China thanked the Cambodian
government for the forced repatriation and two days later signed 14 commercial
deals with Cambodia worth approximately 1 billion US Dollars.
Amnesty International has
documented past cases of Uighur asylum seekers forcibly returned to China who
were detained, reportedly tortured and, in some cases, sentenced to death and
executed.
Lao Hmong from
Thailand
On December 28, 2009, the government of
Thailand forcibly repatriated to Laos about 4,000 Lao Hmong from Huay Nam Khao
camp in Phetchabun, as well as 158 Lao Hmong detained in the Nong Khai
Immigration Detention Centre since November 2006. Amongst them were 87
children, some born in detention. The 158 Lao Hmong
were recognised by UNHCR as being in need of international protection; they had
already been accepted for resettlement by several countries but had been denied
departure from Thailand. UNHCR was not permitted access to the larger group
in Huay Nam Khao camp in Phetchabun to determine their status.
In a statement dated 31 December 2009
protesting these deportations, the Special Rapporteur on Torture, Manfred
Nowak, stated, "the fact that no independent and reliable pre-screening
mechanism is in place to assess whether these individuals would be at risk of
torture violates international human rights norms." This statement was jointly
released with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Migrants, Jorge A.
Bustamante.
Until now, no NGO or UN agencies have
been granted access to monitor the deportees back in Laos.
In recent years, forcibly repatriated
Lao Hmong have been subject to disappearance, imprisonment, forced
re-education, and physical and sexual assault.
The Hmong population has been subject to persecution by Lao authorities,
including arbitrary arrests and detention, and the suppression of religious
freedom.
Principle of
Non-Refoulement
We remind the governments of China,
Cambodia, Laos and Thailand and other governments in
the Asia-Pacific region that under international law, the forcible
deportation (refoulement) of an individual to a place where they will be
exposed to a real risk of serious harm is absolutely forbidden under both
customary international law and under the treaty provisions of the Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Convention against Torture
and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
We also remind these governments that under
the terms of the Charter of the United Nations, the Statute of the
UNHCR and the terms of the memoranda of agreement that they have signed
with the UNHCR that they are bound to cooperate with it and to facilitate its
efforts to ensure access and the protection of refugees.
We recall the numerous Conclusions on
International Protection of the Executive Committee of the UNHCR, of which the
governments of China and Thailand are members, which call on states to
"scrupulously respect the principle of non-refoulement". We further
recall that the Executive Committee adopted these conclusions by consent and
that the governments of China and Thailand have on multiple occasions agreed to
abide by them.
