Speech #960258387

spokesman said his organization was satisfied that the repatriation would indeed be voluntary and that any refugees returning to Cambodia would be doing so of their own free will. But the program was denounced by the Vietnamesebacked government in Cambodia. which sees it as an effort to supply fresh supporters to the guerrilla factions that operate along the border. where the refugees will cross back into Cambodia. And some relief agency officials criticized it because. they say. it lacks safeguards to prevent refugees being forced back against their will. They said most refugees being interviewed had little idea of their alternatives and. in many cases. were being pressured by guerrillas in the camps to agree to return. Those guerrillasmembers of both the Khmer Rouge (the Communists) and the rival Khmer Serei (the Free Khmer)-want to build up the strength of their own encampments along the border. from which they strike out to skirmish both with each other and with the Vietnamese troops that now rule Cambodia. "Nobody had time to get ready for this." said one highly placed relief official with one of the agencies who will be supplying food and medical services to the refugees being repatriated. "They just dropped this in everyones laps. and the Khmers (Cambodians) dont even know what hit them." Relief workers at the two principal refugee camps involved. Sa Kaeo and Khao I Dang. said that guerrilla cadres in each camp have been waging a campaign of misinformation among refugees to convince them that they have no choice but to agree to return to Cambodia. In fact. one relief worker who tried to tell refugees in Sa Kaeo of their choices was arrested by Thai officials. The workers say the only action taken by the United Nations to inform refugees of their rights has been to post copies of the document that refugees must sign if they return. Although the document asks refugees whether they are returning of their own free will. it does not explicitly state that they can choose to stay where they are. A large proportion of the refugeesperhaps 60 percent in Sa Kaeocannot read their own language. In Sa Kaeo. which houses about 30.000 refugees. the Khmer Rouge guerrilla in residence have threatened to execute anyone who refuses to return. Members of the Khmer Rouge support the ousted Pol Pot regime. which during its four years in power (197579) caused the deaths of thouands of Cambodians through widespread executions and starvation. In Khao I Dang. most of the antiCommunist guerrillas working for the Khmer Serei Leader Son Sann have been actively recruiting returnees inside the camp. telling them that if they do not return voluntarily now. the Thai army will force than back at gunpoint. In 1979. thousands perished when the Thai army repatriated 40.000 Cambodian refugees by forcing them at gunpoint into a minefield along the northern Cambodian border. The UNHCR has pledged that it will fight any such forcible repatriation. but it favors the repatriation for willing refugees when it is safe for them to return. The Cambodian border. however. continues to be a region marked by constant strife between various guerrilla factions and the Vietnamese troops occupying the country since Pol Pot was driven from power in January 1979. Vietnam and Cambodia reacted strongly to the planned repatriations. particularly of the Khmer Rouge followers who fled their country because of famine and who have made no secret of their plans to head for their hidden catches of weapons and return to battle against the Vietnamese troops.