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 finalised with the Vietnamese authorities, the official said.

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. Since 2001, when thousands of Montagnards first joined widespread protests for land rights and religious freedom, the government has launched an official campaign to eradicate "Dega Protestantism."

Since then, nearly 2,000 Montagnards have fled to Cambodia, and more than 1,000 of them have been granted refugee status and offered residency in the United States.

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.

As of Saturday, about 780 Montagnards have arrived in Phnom Penh and are being screened by the UNHCR to determine their status, according to the official.




Kenneth Chan
Ecumenical Press