Repatriation seen gaining momentum

[suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

                                        October 24, 1998 
                     REFUGEES

 Repatriation seen
 gaining momentum

 Likely to quicken once government
 formed

 Achara Ashayagachat 
 Surin and Si Sa Ket

 Repatriation of the remaining 37,162 Cambodian refugees who fled
 the country after a coup d'etat 15 months ago is expected to pick up
 after a new Cambodian government is formed, according to Thai and
 UN refugee officials.

 They were speaking on Tuesday to three Australian Olympic gold
 medalists, who are Sporting Goodwill Representatives of the United
 Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Their trip was to raise
 awareness and support for the UN humanitarian assistance to the
 Cambodian displaced persons.

 Bangkok and Phnom Penh have been cooperating closely with the
 UNHCR and non-governmental organisations in sending back 8,899
 displaced Cambodians from camps in Surin and Trat to places of the
 refugees' choice, according to the Unhcr office in Bangkok.

 Its field officer in Surin, Erna Henriksen, conceded that the repatriation
 was moving slowly due to the time-consuming process and political
 uncertainty in Cambodia.

 The repatriation operation is voluntary. Chosen destinations must be
 safe and verified by the UN and NGOs on the spot, the UN official
 said.

 Some of the 7,105 Cambodians in Huay Cherng camp, about four
 kilometres from the Thai-Cambodian border in Surin, could not return
 to their desired destination at O'Smach because it was still classified as
 no-go areas, she said.

 Special Col Manit Boonprong, head of the Thai-Cambodian
 Coordination Centre Area II, said the momentum of the plan had been
 established and the speed would be boosted after a new Cambodian
 government was set up.

 Now refugees have mixed feelings about their future as conflicts in
 their country remain.

 Sai Sen, 51, a retired soldier loyal to the FUNCINPEC forces, said at
 Huay Cherng camp that he would not go back to rejoin his wife in
 Samrong, 40 kilometres from the border, if Hun Sen was still with the
 new government for fear of being killed.

 Son Kham, a 21-year-old crippled military officer, was also afraid of
 being killed but preferred to return home in Siem Reap. "Once my hip
 and my leg heal, I will go back with the others," he said.

 Maj-Gen Khoun Lee, a Khmer Rouge officer and leader at Phu Noi
 camp, thinks differently, saying that "We will join the coalition
 government once the talk is finished. The war should be over as the
 international community so desires, and so do we."

 Refugees at Phu Noi camp are apparently well prepared for their
 exodus, carrying their personal belongings and household items
 including cattle and food crossing the border.

 Seng Veuon, 53, said: "I don't have anywhere to go. My property was
 completely sold, Thailand and the UN have to help us. If Hun Sen is
 still the ruler, we prefer to live here, not under the Vietnamese-backed
 ruler."

 Repatriation of refugees at Huay Cherng camp seems to be easier than
 those in Phu Noi, about 12 kilometres off the Cambodian border in Si
 Sa Ket, conceded Ms Henriksen. The Si Sa Ket camp houses 15,252
 Cambodians.

 Huay Cherng, set up in August last year, is mostly composed of
 people who were caught in the northwestern area of O'Smach when
 the troops loyal to Hun Sen attacked the last base of the royal
 Funcinpec party.

 The majority of the population originated from all parts of Cambodia
 and went there to earn their living as its border trade flourished, she
 said.

 Meanwhile Phu Noi camp residents were those who fled the more
 recent fighting in April and May this year in Anlong Veng, one of the
 last Khmer Rouge strongholds.

 Although the majority were farmers, they originated from 20 villages in
 Anlong Veng.

                                                       
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