Rights groups worried as Cambodia orders refugee camp shut

By Prak Chan Thul
20 Dec, 2010

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia's order to shut down a United Nations refugee office has further strained troubled ties with international organisations, casting doubt over the pro-business government's commitment to reforms.

Rights groups are incensed by the order, made public last week, to close the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre, which handles Vietnamese refugees. They say the government is sending a clear message that it cares little for human rights.

The order follows Prime Minister Hun Sen's demand to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in October to remove the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) representative, whom he accused of working for his opponents.

Hun Sen said that if the U.N. refused, he would close down the rights body in the country.

The government has also said it might cancel plans to donate 2,000 tonnes of rice to a nother U.N. body, the Food and Agricultural Organisation, and to expel the U.N. Development Programme's local official over comments he made about an anti-corruption bill before it took effect this year.

The laws seek to attract foreign investors deterred by corruption, but analysts and some in business say loopholes raise doubts about the resolve to tackle graft.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, said it was "totally unreasonable" for the government to demand the closure of the refugee centre -- which holds Vietnamese nationals who say they have fled repression at home.

"It shows that the Cambodian government may want the U.N.'s money, but it doesn't want to hear about human rights," he said, describing the move as part of an intimidation campaign by the government to silence critics and cement its grip on power.

A regional UNHCR representative could not be reached and the OHCHR declined to comment.

The government has also picked fights with foreign donors and international financial institutions, which provide vital development aid to alleviate poverty.

SPATS WITH DONORS, LENDERS

Hun Sen has expressed irritation at the World Bank and other institutions for stating that the economy contracted in 2009 -- contrary to Finance Ministry data -- and for giving growth forecasts lower than the government's.

A World Bank land registry project, aimed at helping people lacking land titles, was scrapped last year after the bank and other donors asked the government to halt forced evictions.

Rights groups accuse he government of leaning on the judiciary to punish critics and using its parliamentary majority to push through defamation laws aimed at muzzling dissent.

The U.N. has maintained a large presence in Cambodia since the 1990s, when a U.N. Transitional Authority supervised an election and a cease-fire after decades of civil conflict, including the mass killings of the 1970s under the Khmer Rouge.

Local non-governmental organisations say government moves will leave independent bodies more open to intimidation.

"It very much leaves the role of NGOs in the balance, with many questioning how they can effectively operate in a country that did not allow U.N. officials to operate freely," said Ou Virak, director of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights.

ambodia's government defended the closure of the camp and said its close political ally, Vietnam, now enjoyed peace and a booming economy, so a refugee centre was no longer necessary.

"It's time to close this site because there is no war in Vietnam, no armed conflict so the refugees don't have to be present in Cambodia any more," said Foreign Minister Hor Namhong.

(Editing by Martin Petty and Ron Popeski)