Government works on Australia refugee plea

13 March 2014
The Cambodia Daily
Government / International relations / Migration / Ministries and other national bodies / Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation / Population and censuses
Australian aid / Hun Sen / Julie Bishop / Khieu Sopheak / Long Visalo / Ministry of Foreign Affairs / Ministry of Interior

Government officials have got to work parsing a controversial request that Cambodia, one of the poorest countries in the region with a spotty record handling refugees, take some of Australia’s asylum seekers. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop made the request to Prime Minister Hun Sen during a visit to Cambodia last month and the government said it would “carefully consider” the idea. On Wednesday, General Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said the government had formed a committee to study the request further and that the group had already met at least once. … Prime Minister Hun Sen’s personal assistant, Eang Sophalleth, said after the meeting with Ms. Bishop that Australia had asked Cambodia to take an unspecified “small number” of “legal” asylum seekers. … Human rights groups say Cambodia is not prepared to handle the asylum seekers, having violated the rights of refugees that have come its way in recent years from China and Vietnam. …

 Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/government-works-on-australia-refugee-plea-54044/