IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 178

Concerning persecution of Montagnard peoples in Vietnam.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JUNE 28, 2001

Mr. BALLENGER (for himself and Mr. BURR of North Carolina) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

International Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Concerning persecution of Montagnard peoples in Vietnam.

Whereas the Montagnards are indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands of Vietnam who have long suffered discrimination and mistreatment at the hands of successive

Vietnamese governments;

Whereas during the 1960’s and 1970’s Montagnard freedom

fighters were the first line in the defense of South Vietnam against invasion from the North, fighting courageously beside members of the Special Forces of the

United States Army, suffering disproportionately heavy

casualties, and saving the lives of many of their American

and Vietnamese comrades in arms;

Whereas since 1975 the Montagnard peoples have been singled out for particularly harsh treatment by the communist government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,
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in part because of their past association with the United

States and in part because their strong commitment to

their traditional way of life and to their Christian religion

is regarded as inconsistent with the absolute loyalty and

control demanded by the communist system;

Whereas many Montagnards belong to independent evangelical Protestant churches which the Vietnamese Government regards as illegal and which the Government has

persecuted by measures including closing and destruction

of church buildings, harassment and discrimination

against believers, and in some cases imprisonment and

physical abuse;

Whereas the Vietnamese Government has long pursued a systematic policy of encouraging migration by ethnic Vietnamese to the Central Highlands, resulting in encroachments on and confiscation of Montagnard communal

lands;

Whereas in recent years more and more Montagnard lands

have been confiscated as a result of Government programs aimed at the cultivation of coffee and other products for export;

Whereas the Montagnards have far higher rates of poverty

and disease than other residents of Vietnam, including

one of the highest rates of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) in

the world, in part due to Government policies and practices that prevent nongovernmental organizations from

working directly with Montagnards and divert in-kind humanitarian assistance provided by international and nongovernmental organizations;

Whereas many thousands of Montagnards were eligible for

the Orderly Departure Program and other United States
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in-country refugee programs on account of their wartime

associations with the United States, postwar persecution

on account of these associations, and other persecution

on account of race, religion, and political opinion;

Whereas only a handful of eligible Montagnards have ever

been able to gain access to these United States refugee

programs, in part because few Montagnards could afford

to pay bribes demanded by communist officials in exchange for permitting such access, and in part because

of unreasonably restrictive policies imposed at times by

United States officials charged with administering these

refugee programs;

Whereas in February 2001 several thousand Montagnards

participated in a series of peaceful demonstrations

throughout the Central Highlands, demanding religious

freedom and restoration of their confiscated lands;

Whereas the Government responded to these peaceful demonstrations by closing off the Central Highlands and

sending in military forces, tanks, and helicopter gunships;

Whereas for the last 4 months the Government has refused

to allow any meaningful access to the Central Highlands

by diplomats, journalists, or other observers, so that it is

impossible to be certain of the extent of the current repression;

Whereas credible reports by refugees who have escaped from

the Central Highlands indicate that the Government has

executed some participants in the demonstrations and

has subjected others to imprisonment, torture, and other

forms of physical abuse;
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Whereas since February several hundred Montagnard refugees, and perhaps more, have succeeded in escaping from

Vietnam into Cambodia;

Whereas approximately 250 of these refugees are under the

care and protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at sites in the northeastern Cambodian provinces of Mondulkiri and

Ratanakiri, and another 38 have been resettled in the

United States;

Whereas the Royal Government of Cambodia has announced

that Montagnards found in Cambodia who express a fear

of return to Vietnam will be placed under the protection

of UNHCR rather than forcibly repatriated to Vietnam;

Whereas despite this announcement by the central government, local and provincial police and military officials in

Mondulkiri province, and perhaps some officials of the

central government, appear to be pursuing a policy of

systematic forcible repatriation of Montagnard asylum

seekers to Vietnam;

Whereas, according to international observers Cambodian

military and police officials have yet to deliver a single

Montagnard into the care of UNHCR and have forcibly

repatriated at least 100 to 200 Montagnards to Vietnam;

Whereas there are credible reports that Vietnamese security

forces are operating openly in Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri

provinces, harassing and intimidating local residents who

have been helpful to Montagnard asylum seekers and offering bounties for the surrender of asylum seekers, including one instance in which Vietnamese security forces

paid $3,200 in gold to local Cambodian officials in ex-
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change for 33 asylum seekers who were then repatriated

to Vietnam;

Whereas there are credible reports that the Governments of

Cambodia and Vietnam have taken extraordinary measures to secure the border against further escapes into

Cambodia by Montagnard asylum seekers; and

Whereas although the information blackout imposed by the

Vietnamese Government makes it impossible to predict

with certainty the fate of Montagnards who are refused

entry into Cambodia or forcibly repatriated to Vietnam,

there is reason to believe that those who participated in

the February demonstrations or who actively profess

Christianity may be subjected to severe persecution: Now,

therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring), That the Congress—

3 (1) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow

4 freedom of religious belief and practice to all

5 Montagnards including those who are evangelical

6 Christians belonging to denominations not recog7 nized by the Government; to return all traditional

8 Montagnard lands that have been confiscated or en9 croached upon; to allow nongovernmental and inter10 national humanitarian organizations to deliver hu11 manitarian assistance directly to Montagnards in

12 their villages, without interference or involvement by

13 Government officials; to open up all parts of the

14 Central Highlands to foreign and domestic journal-
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1 ists, human rights organizations, diplomats, and

2 other observers; and to withdraw its security forces

3 from Cambodia and stop hunting down refugees;

4 (2) commends the Royal Cambodian Govern5 ment for its official policy of guaranteeing tem6 porary asylum for Montagnards fleeing Vietnam;

7 (3) urges the Royal Cambodian Government to

8 take all necessary measures to ensure that all offi9 cials and employees of the local, provincial, and cen10 tral governments fully obey the policy of providing

11 temporary asylum; to make clear that such protec12 tion will be extended not only to Montagnards found

13 within Cambodia but also to those apprehended at

14 the border; to insist that the Government of Viet15 nam withdraw its officials and employees from Cam16 bodian territory and discontinue its efforts to secure

17 forcible repatriation of Montagnards; and to provide

18 security at sites where refugees are sheltered;

19 (4) commends the officials and employees in

20 Cambodia of the United Nations High Commissioner

21 for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations

22 Human Rights Center for their assistance to and ad23 vocacy on behalf of Montagnard asylum seekers and

24 refugees, and urges them to continue and intensify

25 these efforts;
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1 (5) commends the Department of State for the

2 assistance to and advocacy of Montagnard asylum

3 seekers that have been provided by officials and em4 ployees of the United States Embassy in Phnom

5 Penh and urges that such efforts be continued and

6 intensified; and

7 (6) urges the Department of State to make

8 clear to the Government of Vietnam that continued

9 mistreatment of Montagnards and efforts to seek

10 forcible repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers

11 from Cambodia represent a grave threat to the proc12 ess of normalization of relations between the Gov13 ernments of the United States and Vietnam and, in

14 particular, a serious obstacle to any prospects for

15 the future provision of United States assistance to

16 the Government of Vietnam and to United States

17 support of such assistance by international financial

18 institutions.

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