At least 2,000 ethnic Montagnard people are living in Thailand after fleeing persecution at home
A Vietnamese Montagnard family is moved to a United Nations safe house in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in a file photo. (Photo: Suy Se/AFP
Rights activists and family members have decried the recent arrest of 11 ethnic Vietnamese Montagnard people despite being recognized as refugees by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), says a report.
Thai police and immigration authorities arrested the Montagnard people following raids on Nov. 24, Radio Free Asia (RFA) reported on Nov. 27 quoting Y Quynh Buondap, a refugee and member of Montagnards Stand For Justice (MSFJ) in Thailand.
“On the morning of November 24, many cars from Thailand’s police and Immigration Department came to a Montagnard people’s residential area,” Buondap said.
“They asked them to open the door in the Vietnamese language,” he added.
Montagnard (French for Mountain Dweller) is an umbrella term used for hill tribe groups found in the Indochinese Peninsula, particularly in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.
Many Montagnard people became Christians in the 19th century thanks to evangelization by European missionaries.
For centuries, the Montagnard have struggled to maintain their distinct language and culture from the Buddhist-majority Vietnamese people. Tensions with the majority Vietnamese led to insurgency, several deadly unrests and revolts.
During the Vietnam War, Montagnard people fought alongside Western forces against the communists from South Vietnam. After the communist takeover and unification of Vietnam in 1975, the Montagnard people continued to fight for greater autonomy, triggering a state purge.
The communist government seized Montagnard’s land and leased it out to plantation companies, forcing many Montagnards to flee to other places and countries including Thailand and Cambodia.
Montagnard activist Buondap alleged that police raid and forcible entry to the residences of his community were unprecedented.
“As some did not open their doors, the police broke them down to search for people. They arrested all the men they found,” Buondap said.
Police officials accused the residents of living in Thailand illegally.
“The officials said ‘Thailand did not accommodate people coming illegally,'” Buondap alleged.
Those arrested were taken to the Bang Yai police station and detained there.
The arrests have sparked fear among Montagnard refugees as people have been told that women could be arrested if they did not have children with them, Buondap said, adding that many have been forced to hide themselves in pagodas and bushes to avoid arrests.
Thoan Siu, a Vietnamese refugee who has been living in Thailand since 2018 said that his son Nay-Luyn was arrested by the police though the whole family is recognized as refugees by the UNHCR.
“Thai police even arrested people who have been granted refugee status,” Siu said.
Siu said he moved to Thailand after being evicted from his land in Vietnam amid restrictions on religious freedom.
He regretted they are now facing “a new form of persecution” in Thailand after fleeing home.
“[We are] very confused and anxious as we were chased in Vietnam and now, we are also being chased in Thailand,” Siu lamented.
“Many refugees are worried about their lives on a daily basis, not knowing how their future could be,” Siu added.
Hleo Nie, the mother of two primary school children who had fled for Thailand from Vietnam in 2021 expressed her worry about the recent arrests and voiced her fear of being chased by the Thai police force.
“I am very worried and scared. I don’t know where to go. My family hasn’t got refugee status yet. We just had the interview a month ago,” Nie said.
“We have to worry about everything here: No money for rent, no money for daily necessities, and we are always sick. The Thai police are still chasing us. They said they would even arrest women,” Nie added.
An unnamed lawyer specializing in assisting refugees said one needs to pay 5,000 Thai Baht (US$144) for a trial fee. To secure a bail from Immigration Detention Center in the capital Bangkok an inmate needs to pay 50,000 Thai Baht.
He pointed out that the amount would be a “fortune to a refugee without a legal and stable job.”
Activist Buondap claimed nine out of 17 Montagnard people arrested since August are UN-recognized refugees who are being held in Immigration Detention Center.
There are an estimated 2,000 Montagnard people in Thailand followed by hundreds of Hmong and Khmer people, RFA reported.
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