Montagnard returnees receive good behaviour, says UNHCR spokesperson
(VNA): All ethnic minority people who have returned to Viet Nam's Central Highlands after fleeing to Cambodia are in good health and relaxed, said UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis at a press briefing in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 5.
Pagonis made the announcement after a fact-finding visit to the Central Highlands' villages by a UNHCR mission earlier this week.
The UNHCR's regional representative, based in Thailand, made a two-day visit to Ia Grai and Chu Se districts of Gia Lai province which shares a common borderline with Cambodia. He was accompanied by a Viet Nam-based UNHCR representative who has already made several monitoring visits to the region.
Pagonis said that the Montagnards visited were in good physical condition and local authorities have exerted efforts in helping the returnees find jobs and reintegrate into the community.
In Chu Se district all the Montagnards interviewed confirmed they had received job offers while in Ia Grai district the returnees were provided with rice, salt, kerosene and seedlings.
The UNHCR mission also asked Vietnamese authorities to take them to see some specific cases, and this was arranged without any problems, Pagonis said.
She added that UNHCR representatives visited three subjects reported to be hiding and allegedly in prison by a human rights group. All three persons are at their homes and they affirmed that they had not hidden and were not in prison.
The monitoring mission also visited a further three cases while a non-governmental organisation had reported concerns over. The cases, in two separate villages, were found in good health and not frightened, as reported.
After the visit, the UNHCR representative confirmed that the returnees did not appear to be in any way endangered or threatened, and many seemed happy to be back with their families.
The representative said he was positively impressed by efforts to find jobs and vocational training for returnees from Cambodia.
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