Thailand’s deportation of six Cambodian political dissidents violated its commitment to the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits states from returning people to countries where they may face torture or other human rights abuse, a spokesperson for the U.N. Refugee Agency told Radio Free Asia.
Six activists associated with the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party and one minor were on Sunday deported from Thailand back to Cambodia at the request of Phnom Penh. The six adults, who escaped Cambodia in 2022, were subsequently charged with “treason."
All six activists are now being held in three separate Cambodian prisons, according to a prisons official, while the minor was released to the care of other family members upon arrival.
Vivian Tan, a spokesperson in Thailand for the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR, said the decision violated Thailand’s domestic law protecting people who might face harm back home.
“UNHCR is deeply concerned by Thailand’s deportation of the Cambodian refugees, which violates the principle of non-refoulement,” Tan said in an email to RFA Khmer. “This principle obliges States, including Thailand, to ensure no person is expelled or returned to a territory where their life or freedom may be at risk.”
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“UNHCR appeals to Thailand to uphold its commitments under domestic legislation and international conventions, including the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act, to safeguard the principle of non-refoulement,” she said.
Thailand passed the law she mentioned in 2022, and it came into effect in 2023. It criminalizes torture and enforced disappearances and protects the principle of non-refoulement.
Tan noted that a child –- the 7-year-old grandson of one of the activists -– was among those deported, and said it was “especially alarming as it contradicts the principle of acting in the best interests of the child,” as required by Thailand’s Child Protection Act and other legislation.
“States have a fundamental responsibility to protect individuals on their territory, including refugees and asylum-seekers,” the spokesperson added. “We are seeking urgent clarification from the Thai authorities on the circumstances surrounding this deportation.”
Other dissidents scared
Cambodian activists remaining in Thailand told RFA they were now concerned about their safety and living in fear of knocks at the door.
Pen Bunthorn said the tight-knit community of Cambodian dissidents living in Bangkok saw Sunday’s deportation as a harbinger of things to come and were now living in fear of more visits by Thai authorities.
“Since the arrest on Sunday, I have been worried about my safety,” Pen Bunthorn said. “I have my wife and children with me, so I am most worried my children won’t be able to study without their parents.”
Another dissident, Boeng Sophoeun, said that since the deportation of the six refugees, nearly 100 Cambodian refugees had fled their rented rooms for new housing and agreed to stop meeting up in-person.
Boeng Sophoeun asked the U.N. Refugee Agency to expedite their formal processing as refugees and to help them find resettlement in third countries before more Cambodians were seized and deported.
“I urge them to speed up our cases as quickly as possible,” she said. “We regret that the U.N. has failed to prevent the deportation.”
Elaine Pearson, the Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the Thai government should cease cooperating with Cambodia to help it chase down remnants of a political party dissolved seven years ago.
“Thai officials deported these Cambodian refugees in blatant disregard for fundamental refugee protection principles,” Pearson said in an email to RFA. “Thai authorities should not be complicit in the Cambodian government’s transnational persecution of its critics.”
The opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party was banned and forcibly dissolved Cambodia’s authoritarian government in 2017, with the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party having since easily won the 2018 and 2023 national elections without any viable alternative.
After 38 years in power, Prime Minister Hun Sen last year handed over power to his son, Hun Manet, who has since shown little interest in diverting from his father’s heavy-handed approach to ruling Cambodia.
What little open defiance remains is seemingly being smothered out piece-by-piece by the government, with arrests of dissidents often now followed by forced apology videos that are widely distributed online.
Edited by Alex Willemyns and Malcolm Foster.