HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Vietnam accused the United States on Thursday of attempting to destabilize the region by offering asylum to 24 Vietnamese hill tribespeople being held in neighboring Cambodia, and asked Cambodia to send them home.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Phan Thuy Thanh said the granting of asylum would encourage other Vietnamese to cross the border illegally in hopes of being resettled in third countries.
The 24 Vietnamese ethnic minority members were arrested in March in the remote Cambodian province of Mondulkiri after fleeing there following Vietnam's suppression of anti-government protests by hill tribespeople in February.
Thanh insisted, however, that the group was ``absolutely not political refugees'' and would not be arrested by the government if they return to Vietnam.
She appealed to Cambodia to return the 24 people and said the United States' offer of possible asylum was ``destabilizing the regional situation.''
``The U.S. intention to take advantage of this situation is very clear,'' she said. ``We again ask the U.S. to stop.''
On Saturday, Cambodian authorities allowed U.N. officials to meet with the 24 Vietnamese for the first time since they were arrested after crossing the border. Representatives of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees hope to determine whether they were fleeing persecution in Vietnam.
The protests in Vietnam's Central Highlands were reportedly triggered by land grievances, poverty, and restrictions on the practice of the Protestant religion, which is followed by many of the minority groups. Such anti-government protests are extremely rare, and have shaken Vietnamese authorities.
The Communist government harbors a deep distrust of the hill tribe minorities, some of whom fought alongside American forces during the Vietnam War.