Post by Phil on Apr 27, 2015 15:58:40 GMT 7
For asylum seekers, a novel (and odd) solution: Cambodia
BANGKOK — Still haunted by the Vietnam War next door and the 1970s genocide that followed, Cambodia is not exactly the place that the world’s refugees dream of reaching.
Plagued by poverty, corruption and human rights abuses, it has been run by a strongman prime minister who has held power for 30 years. It’s a nation where medical care outside main cities is nonexistent, where decent jobs are so scarce that more than 800,000 of its own people have left to find work abroad.
Yet when it comes to 700 asylum seekers detained on the remote Pacific Island nation of Nauru, Australia is hard-selling Cambodia as something unexpected: their new promised land of opportunity.
In a video message aired this week to asylum seekers on Nauru, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton — whose nation has said it will never take the migrants — touted Cambodia as “a fast-paced and vibrant country with a stable economy and varied employment opportunities ... a diverse nation with a blend of many nationalities, cultures and religions.”
“An opportunity for a new life is now before you,” Dutton said. “While it’s not Australia, Cambodia offers you safety, security and opportunity.”
Read more www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/for-asylum-seekers-a-novel-and-odd-solution-cambodia/2015/04/23/fdf276e2-ea17-11e4-8581-633c536add4b_story.html
BANGKOK — Still haunted by the Vietnam War next door and the 1970s genocide that followed, Cambodia is not exactly the place that the world’s refugees dream of reaching.
Plagued by poverty, corruption and human rights abuses, it has been run by a strongman prime minister who has held power for 30 years. It’s a nation where medical care outside main cities is nonexistent, where decent jobs are so scarce that more than 800,000 of its own people have left to find work abroad.
Yet when it comes to 700 asylum seekers detained on the remote Pacific Island nation of Nauru, Australia is hard-selling Cambodia as something unexpected: their new promised land of opportunity.
In a video message aired this week to asylum seekers on Nauru, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton — whose nation has said it will never take the migrants — touted Cambodia as “a fast-paced and vibrant country with a stable economy and varied employment opportunities ... a diverse nation with a blend of many nationalities, cultures and religions.”
“An opportunity for a new life is now before you,” Dutton said. “While it’s not Australia, Cambodia offers you safety, security and opportunity.”
Read more www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/for-asylum-seekers-a-novel-and-odd-solution-cambodia/2015/04/23/fdf276e2-ea17-11e4-8581-633c536add4b_story.html
