Cambodian closure of camp welcomed

via CAAI

February, 17 2011

HA NOI — The Vietnamese Government highly values the Cambodian Government's closure of its temporary camp in Phnom Penh for ethnic minority people of the Central Highlands of Viet Nam, in accordance with the schedule Cambodia had previously announced, said a spokesperson from the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry.

Nguyen Phuong Nga told reporters yesterday that "the Vietnamese State always prioritises promoting socio-economic development in remote and mountainous areas in order to improve all aspects of the lives of ethnic minorities, including those in the Central Highlands."

"In reality, the Central Highlands has been one of the regions that has enjoyed a high economic growth rate and the lives of ethnic minorities in all fields have been further improved over recent years," she went on to say.

"Ethnic minority people who returned from Cambodia are not discriminated against and have always been assisted in stabilising their lives and reintegrating into the community," she added.

"The Vietnamese Government highly values the close co-operation of the Cambodian Government and the United Nations Refugee Agency in settling people in the temporary camp on the basis of the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding signed on January 25, 2005, as well as its closure of the camp as scheduled," said Nga.

The 10 remaining ethnic minority people of the Central Highlands were welcomed back to Viet Nam and returned safely to their locality, where measures were taken to reintegrate them, she added.— VNS