On Christmas Day the global media has portrayed a suspected terrorist who failed to blow up the Northwest Airline flight number 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. The event has attracted attention of the world from the eve of the New Year’s celebration and prompted the leadership of the superpowers to take simultaneous actions. Then, global TV showed tight security measures at every mayor airports.
While watching live coverage of this terrorism event, the fortunate fate of the 278 passengers who boarded this airliner has prompted me to recall the lawful and appropriate action taken last week by the Royal Government in returning 20 Uighur asylum seekers back to China aiming at preventing and fighting terrorism because, there were suspected terrorists and alleged criminals among them.
In handling this issue, we strongly believe that, in order to respond to the global unconventional threats of terrorism, the effective law enforcement is one of the best means of fighting it. Besides fighting terrorism, the measures taken by the government are about advancing prevention and solution-oriented strategies for the refugee issue. By doing so, the government did not encourage the flow of other illegal migrants.
As far as I understand, there were many criticisms against Cambodia not because of the measures taken by the government, but because of sensitive nature of the issue itself. Accordingly, as Mrs. Sadako Ogata, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees has pointed out, the refugee issue “ has indeed become an even more pronounced instruments of politics, and of foreign policy “* among the world politics’ major players.
Hence, humanitarian and human rights issues of refugees or asylum seekers are constantly exploited by major actors in world politics to pressurize the other side through their powerful global media which in turn intensifies the interaction between governments, Humam Rights groups and international public opinion. These 20 Uighur asylum seekers in Phnom Penh and Liu Xiaobo’s trial in Beijing are vivid examples.
ENG YENG
Advisor,
International Relations Institute of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
*Ogata,Sadako.” Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action “, United Nation High
Commisisoner for Refugees, 1997.
While watching live coverage of this terrorism event, the fortunate fate of the 278 passengers who boarded this airliner has prompted me to recall the lawful and appropriate action taken last week by the Royal Government in returning 20 Uighur asylum seekers back to China aiming at preventing and fighting terrorism because, there were suspected terrorists and alleged criminals among them.
In handling this issue, we strongly believe that, in order to respond to the global unconventional threats of terrorism, the effective law enforcement is one of the best means of fighting it. Besides fighting terrorism, the measures taken by the government are about advancing prevention and solution-oriented strategies for the refugee issue. By doing so, the government did not encourage the flow of other illegal migrants.
As far as I understand, there were many criticisms against Cambodia not because of the measures taken by the government, but because of sensitive nature of the issue itself. Accordingly, as Mrs. Sadako Ogata, former UN High Commissioner for Refugees has pointed out, the refugee issue “ has indeed become an even more pronounced instruments of politics, and of foreign policy “* among the world politics’ major players.
Hence, humanitarian and human rights issues of refugees or asylum seekers are constantly exploited by major actors in world politics to pressurize the other side through their powerful global media which in turn intensifies the interaction between governments, Humam Rights groups and international public opinion. These 20 Uighur asylum seekers in Phnom Penh and Liu Xiaobo’s trial in Beijing are vivid examples.
ENG YENG
Advisor,
International Relations Institute of Cambodia
Phnom Penh
*Ogata,Sadako.” Peace, Security and Humanitarian Action “, United Nation High
Commisisoner for Refugees, 1997.