By CASEY NEILL
GREATER Dandenong’s Cambodian community is divided over Australia’s $40 million deal to send refugees to the recovering country.
The Cambodian and Australian governments last week announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to offer voluntary refugee settlement in Cambodia, with Cambodia to determine the number and timing.
Border Protection Minister Scott Morrison said Cambodia was party to the Refugees Convention and was making countless efforts to develop the country after civil war.
“Australia will bear the direct costs of the arrangement, including initial support to refugees, and relevant capacity-building for Cambodia to ensure it has the appropriate resources to receive and integrate the refugees successfully,” he said.
Greater Dandenong’s 2011 Young Achiever of the Year and Cambodian refugee Kalyan Ky said she was very supportive of the deal.
“More positives will come out of it than negatives,” she said.
“Lots of people don’t seem to understand that it’s about capacity-building.
“Cambodia is the only South-East Asia region nation not equipped to take refugees.
“It has one of the fastest-growing economies – therefore it should also have obligations to take refugees.
“It’s a voluntary deal. If the refugees choose not to go, that’s up to them.”
Ms Ky said Cambodia had a very open business market.
“There are many very successful Cambodians who have their own businesses,” she said.
“A lot of my relatives – we came out of Cambodia and they’re more successful than us.
“If people are go-getters they can really succeed in Cambodia.
“If they want to get out of poverty… it allows people to do that.
“The government doesn’t intervene in your private life.”
She said most people she spoke to in Cambodia supported the initiative.
“The ones who don’t agree with it are the most vocal,” she said.
But Cambodian-born City of Greater Dandenong councillor Heang Tak said many of the 5000-plus Cambodians living in the municipality had expressed grave concerns.
“The Cambodian Government is a corrupt government,” he said.
“Since 2004 I’ve visited Cambodia almost on a yearly basis.
“I have family and friends who completed one or two university degrees who are unable to get employment.
“There’s no reliable figures to say how many are unemployed. Those who are employed earn less than $2.50 per day.”
Cr Tak said Cambodia was not an English-speaking nation and was a Buddhist community.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done if refugees were to be successfully integrated,” he said.
He said UNHCR statistics showed that in January this year there were almost 14,000 people attempting to leave Cambodia as refugees or asylum seekers, and only 80 trying to settle there.
Barrister and human rights advocate Julian Burnside, at the launch of City of Greater Dandenong’s asylum seeker action plan, said Cambodia was “broke”.
“The idea that our country throws hapless people on a country in that position is just indecent,” he said.
“It’s selfish with a capital S, and also what we’re doing is ridiculously expensive.”
Lyndhurst MP Martin Pakula visited Cambodia earlier this year.
“Cambodia is in a state of turmoil and is not currently equipped to receive, process and resettle asylum seekers,” he said.
