Hun Sen Clarifies Australia Refugee Agreement

Prime Minister Hun Sen has once again defended his government’s decision to resettle asylum seekers intercepted by Australian authorities and detained on the tiny island nation of Nauru, this time in a letter to National Assembly President Heng Samrin.

In the letter, dated November 17 and obtained Sunday, Mr. Hun Sen says the September 29 deal inked by Interior Minister Sar Kheng and Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison follows international and humanitarian standards.

The letter came in response to a letter of inquiry sent by National Assembly Vice President Kem Sokha, the country’s deputy opposition leader, via Mr. Samrin in late October.

“[T]he housing of refugees in Cambodia is based on a voluntary and humanitarian foundation,” Mr. Hun Sen wrote. “Thus the refugees who come to Cambodia must agree via a written document without any coercion.”

Read more at: http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-clarifies-australia-refugee-agreement-72884/