CAMBODIA yesterday stood by its controversial new immigration law in a joint communique with Vietnam, but promised safety for all ethnic Vietnamese still living in the country.
The communique, issued after a three-day visit to Hanoi by a Cambodian Government delegation, pledges 'mutual respect, trust and understanding'.
It makes clear Cambodia is not planning a 'mass expulsion' of foreign residents in Cambodia. An agreement on trade and border issues is foreshadowed.
Western and Asian diplomats read the statement as easing what have been tense relations, but were quick to warn it did not mark a settlement of key issues.
'It's done the spadework for future sessions to find settlement and has taken pressure off the Vietnamese in Cambodia,' one diplomat said.
'We can only hope its spirit reaches provincial officials in Cambodia - they are the ones with this new law in their hands.' The vague law, passed in August, has already sparked the migration of tens of thousands among the 350,000 Vietnamese thought to be in Cambodia.
