Regional MPs call for immediate release of Cambodian refugees deported from Thailand

Click here to read a Khmer version of this statement

Click here to read a Thai version of this statement

JAKARTA – Southeast Asian lawmakers have called for the immediate release of two Cambodian activists who were deported from Thailand this week, despite being registered as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioners on Refugees (UNHCR) in Bangkok. 

On the evening of 8 November, Thai authorities apprehended Voeun Veasna and Voeung Samnang, both part of the disbanded opposition political party the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), near their apartment in Bangkok, and deported them to Cambodia the next day. The pair are now detained in Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar (CC1) Prison.

“It is a deplorable act to send back refugees into the very hands of those who caused them to flee their homes. Sending the pair back to Cambodia puts them at risk of torture and abuse,” said Maria Chin Abdullah, a Member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), a Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP). “We have seen an alarming recent trend in the region of authoritarian regimes trading political dissidents in order to threaten them and silence their voices. As we’ve said previously, such acts risk turning our region into an authoritarian’s playground, where no critics are safe.”

Veasna and Samnang’s deportation occurred after Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered the arrest of Veasna over a critical poem he had posted on his Facebook page calling the country’s premier a “traitor” for amending Cambodia’s constitution, and thereby  “destroying the country”.

Both Veasna and Samnang arrived in Thailand in 2020 as exiles after facing political persecution in Cambodia for their association with the CNRP, which was dissolved by a Supreme Court in 2017 for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government. Rights groups, including APHR, have called the decision politically-motivated due to the significant gains the CNRP made against the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) in commune-level elections held that year.

While Thailand is not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, it is not exempt from protecting individuals seeking refuge inside its borders. The authorities are still bound to respect the principle of non-refoulement.  Returning people where they are at risk of serious human rights violations goes against international law, APHR said. 

This is not the first time Thailand has deported activists. In 2019, a Vietnamese blogger disappeared from a Bangkok mall before re-emerging in a Vietnam prison, while a year later Thailand forcibly returned a Cambodian who fled to avoid prosecution, after a video was shared on social media showing her throwing a shoe at an image of Prime Minister Hun Sen. In 2020, Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a prominent Thai political activist and satirist living in exile in Cambodia, was reportedly abducted in broad daylight by a group of armed men in Phnom Penh. Wanchalearm, accused of computer-related crime in Thailand for operating a Facebook page that was critical of the Thai government, has not been seen since. 

APHR appeals to fellow parliamentarians in both Thailand and Cambodia to call for the release of Voeun Veasna and Voeung Samnan, and ensure they are free from persecution. The international community should make their voices heard to the Thai government that it is unacceptable to return a refugee to a country where they are likely to face persecution, and call on the Cambodian government to end all forms of harassment against individuals voicing critical opinion in exercise of their right to freedoms of expression.

“Human rights and democracy in the region are in critical danger, especially when governments collaborate to silence individuals simply for exercising their freedoms of expression. At a time when ASEAN requires leadership that works on behalf of the people, not despotic rulers, it is alarming to hear Prime Minister Hun Sen declaring yet another crackdown on dissent, particularly as Cambodia assumes the ASEAN chairmanship,” Abdullah said.