Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Gia Lai, June 23 (VNA) - Vu Anh Son, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Viet Nam, arrived in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai on June 22 to inquire into the life of recently repatriated local ethnic minority people who had illegally crossed the border to Cambodia.

This was the second time the delegation came to Gia Lai for this purpose.

Son said that this time his delegation had met four returnees in Ia Co and Ia H'Lei communes of Chu Se district. They all told him that they had been incited by bad elements and vowed they would never illegally leave their homeland again.

According to Son, the four people and their families are leading a stable life and they all have land for farming, farming machines like tractors, and expensive home amenities such as motorbikes and television sets.

He cited the case of Ro Ma Blun in Siu B village, Ia H'Lei commune, who returned to the village on June 1 this year in poor health and was immediately taken to hospital for treatment. He has now recovered and his family has also received rice aid from the local authorities during the off-season period.

Son affirmed that the Vietnamese Government has observed a tripartite agreement signed in early 2005. On behalf of the UNHCR, he expressed the desire to invest in some small projects on building schools and water supply works to help improve the lives of ethnic minority people in the locality.

The Gia Lai authorities reiterated their consistent policy to provide the same care for all newly-repatriated people as provided to others in the community. They said that it is their responsibility to build infrastructure to develop production and improve the living conditions of local people, particularly ethnic minorities.

So far, all communes in Gia Lai have had access to electricity and are accessible by car. Nearly 95 percent of children of school age go to school. The poverty rate in ethnic minorities-inhabited areas has dropped quickly to below 12 percent (around 36,000 households), and there is no longer chronic food shortage.

The UNHCR delegation will go to three other districts of Ia Grai, Duc Co and Krongpa on June 23 and 24.

Vietnam News Agency, 06/23/2005 -- 10:21(GMT+7)