PM Hun Sen warns organizations against any contact with ‘rebels,’ threatens them with dissolution if found involved
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a 135km expressway from the capital Phnom Penh to Bavet City in Svay Rieng province on the Cambodia-Vietnam border, in Phnom Penh on June 7. (Photo: AFP)
Prime Minister Hun Sen has expelled all Montagnards who sought refuge in Cambodia after violent clashes with Vietnamese security, which escalated following attacks on two police stations that left at least nine people dead.
He said all Montagnards had left the country and that he had ordered “new rebels” who arrived amid last week’s violence “arrested to be extradited to Vietnam immediately,” according to the semi-official Fresh News service.
“I would like to reaffirm that the Montagnards have left Cambodia,” he said in an address to about 20,000 workers in Kampong Cham province. “They recently committed deadly attacks in Vietnam. Cambodia does not welcome rebel groups.”
According to official Vietnam sources, about 40 people wearing camouflage vests attacked two police stations in the Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes in the Dal Lak province on June 11. At least nine people were killed and more wounded in fighting over the next three days.
They said 39 people were detained, while Hun Sen dispatched police to Mondulkiri province, bordering Vietnam to the east and south, to inspect security. “Chaos is happening in Vietnam, but we have to be careful with people coming into our country,” Hun Sen said.
Montagnards fought alongside the US and allied troops during the Vietnam War. Many converted to Christianity and complained of repressive policies like religious persecution and expropriation of land by local officials.
Often, the Montagnards have sought sanctuary during times of trouble in neighboring Cambodia, a contentious issue with national elections scheduled for July 23.
Hun Sen also warned all organizations based in Cambodia against contacting the rebels adding they would face dissolution if found to be involved with the groups.
However, Vietnamese authorities and Montagnard groups abroad have insisted that unrest in the region was not linked to the attacks on the two police stations although riots had occurred at the same time and in the same area of Dak Lak, as reported by UCA News, involving the Dega people.
“We don’t have any members involved in these incidents,” executive director of North Carolina-based Dega Central Highlands Organization Y-Duen Buondap, told Radio Free Asia (RFA). Dega are considered a part of the Montagnard hill tribe community.
“However, we have the information that the Montagnard people have rioted to demand their rights and interests, as they could not bear further suffering,” he said.
“They are suppressed, beaten, arrested and cornered daily.”
Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh, the US-based co-founder of the Vietnam Evangelical Church of Christ, also told RFA he didn’t think Montagnards were involved in the attacks on the police stations.
“Montagnard people are commoners who live with their religious faith,” he said.
“When their religious faith or land is violated, they, of course, will have to voice up.
“However, I don’t think Montagnard people in Dak Lak province were capable enough to organize such an armed force of 30 to 40 people,” he added.
Another source told UCA News that Vietnamese security forces had launched a crackdown in response to Montagnard protests resulting in an escalation of violence.
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