First Wave of Montagnard Christians Return to Vietnam
Nine refugees from Vietnam's Montagnard hill tribe who fled to Cambodia have voluntarily returned home
Nine refugees from Vietnam's Montagnard hill tribe who fled to Cambodia have voluntarily returned home, a senior official of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said Saturday.
The official told the Tokyo-based Kyodo News that the Montagnards, who were housed in the UNHCR facilities in Phnom Penh since a few months ago, were moved to Vietnam on Friday upon their request.
The nine were met at the Vietnamese border in Svay Rieng Province, southeastern Cambodia, by Vietnamese authorities, he added.
Another 26 Montagnards who also requested to return home will be repatriated soon after their paperwork is finalized with the Vietnamese authorities, the official said.
Meanwhile, about 780 Montagnards have arrived in Phnom Penh and are being screened by the UNHCR to determine their status.
According to reports, over 700 Christian Montagnards—often dubbed "America's forgotten allies" for siding with the U.S. in the war—say they fled to Cambodia last April after Vietnamese security forces put down Easter Day demonstrations against religious repression and land confiscation in the Central Highlands.
The demonstrations, which drew an estimated 10,000 people to the streets in Daklak, Dak Nong and Gia Lai provinces, turned violent as Vietnam’s police and security forces clashed with demonstrators.
Sources say civilians and Vietnamese security forces dressed in civilian clothes attacked the demonstrators with weapons, killing an unknown number of Montagnards and injuring hundreds more. Many were reported as missing, after having been arrested or having fled.
While international human rights groups claimed that at least 10 protesters were killed in clashes with police, Hanoi said only two died after being pelted with rocks thrown by other protesters.
The clashes were the first large-scale demonstrations in the Central Highlands since February 2001, when security forces forcibly broke up protests by about 20,000 Montagnards, triggering a mass exodus into Cambodia. About 1,000 who fled to Cambodia following the 2001 crackdown were eventually resettled in the United States.
According to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Vietnamese government has increased its persecution of Montagnards in the Central Highlands—particularly those thought to be following “Dega Protestantism.” HRW reports that the government’s crackdown against Dega Protestantism—which it charges is a political movement and not a religion—has impacted all Montagnard Christians, whether they are Dega supporters or not.
In recent years, members of Vietnam's indigenous minorities have fled Vietnam, claiming to be victims of persecution. Vietnam, however, denies the charges, saying it will not prosecute, punish or discriminate against those who voluntarily return to Vietnam.
