Seven Cambodian refugees, who were detained by Thai immigration police at a Paris Peace Agreements training session in Bangkok, are still being held at the immigration detention center, although it has been over two weeks now.
The refugees were taken in with three others on December 29 last year after their documents were checked. Three of them were released the next day.
Those who remain at the center comprise So Meta, a Khmer Student Intelligent League Association member, and two of her relatives, and Sam Sokha, who once threw a shoe at a billboard picture of former Prime Minister Hun Sen, as well as opposition activists Thon Chantha, Ly Chhuon and Kim Thylery.
Khem Mony Kosal, a Candlelight Party leader, who fled to Thailand and sought for political asylum confirmed with CamboJA that the seven people “remained in Thai immigration police custody”.
The Cambodian government has allegedly accused them of attempting to overthrow the government while Thai police have accused them of entering the country illegally.
According to Mony Kosal, one of the detainees, Kim Thylery, has not been officially recognized as a refugee by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Thailand.
But even with UNHCR’s refugee status, he expressed concern over their safety in Thailand.
“We are worried everyday here [in Thailand]. We face arrests anytime [of the day] or assaults by gangsters, so we can’t go anywhere alone,” Mony Kosal said.
“In fact, all of us are targets for arrest [and] to be sent back to [Cambodia],” he said, adding that he was thankful that did not attend the training that day.
Morgane Roussel-Hemery, associate external relations officer of UNHCR in Thailand, said via email that UNHCR is not in a position to comment on the details or confirm the existence of individual cases for protection and confidentiality reasons.
Thon Chanthyda, a sister to refugee Chantha, expressed disappointment over the arrest of her brother by Thai police for merely attending the training.
“It is unreasonable [as] he was learning [at the training] about the Paris Peace Agreements [and then he gets] arrested,” Chantyda said, adding that she will fly to Thailand on Friday to visit her brother.
She said it was never her brother’s intention to flee to Thailand but he was “assaulted by people who also tried to kill him in Cambodia”, she explained.
In April last year, Chantha was allegedly beaten up by four unidentified men, who used metal pipes and sticks, while he was riding his motorcycle along a street in the capital city. He was previously a deputy commune chief for CNRP in Phsar Depo II commune in Phnom Penh.
Power Nation Party vice president Chea Mony said the party plans to ask the Thai government to protect the Cambodian refugees if there is a call to return them to Cambodia.
“We will write a letter requesting the Thai government to intervene and offer protection to the refugees,” he said.
“As politicians, we are always concerned for the rights and freedom of citizens, especially Cambodian laborers and political asylum seekers,” Mony said. He also noted that there is no law in Thailand which stops people from attending a training, unless they have committed an offense.
“No one has the intention of fleeing their own country […] they demand freedom of expression,” he said, however, adding that Cambodia’s freedom and right to opinion and expression are restricted.
When the opposition party, CNRP, was dissolved in 2017, many party members and activists fled to Thailand, fearing persecution by the Cambodian authorities.
Both the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok and Thai embassy in Phnom Penh did not respond to questions via email.
Ministry of Interior spokesperson Khieu Sopheak and government spokesperson Pen Bona could not be reached for comment.
