From the Sydney Sun Herald Sunday 23rd Feb
The Australian government has asked Cambodia to
accept refugees seeking asylum in a move similar to the former Labor government’s
so-called ‘‘Malaysian solution’’.
Cambodian Foreign
Minister Hor Nam Hong said the request was made on Saturday morning during a
meeting between his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop and the Cambodian Prime
Minister Hun Sen.
‘‘In the past,
there have been Cambodians going out as refugees to different countries. Now
perhaps it is time for Cambodia to receive refugees back to Cambodia,’’ Mr Hor
Nam Hong told journalists after a press briefing, adding the number of refugees
had not been decided but this would depend on Australia.
‘‘There are now
thousands of refugees seeking asylum in Australia. And Australia would like to
see Cambodia accept some refugees to be settled in Cambodia,’’ he said. (Mr Hun Sen is a former cadre of the murderous Khmer Rouge).
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| "You'll just love it there! I was there on holiday last year. What a place! The temples...." |
Cambodia is one of Asia’s poorest countries and is dependent on hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid. Australia sent $244 million to Cambodia over the past three years. A further $85 million has been pledged for 2013 to 2014.
Human rights groups say Cambodia has one of the worst human rights records in Asia.
