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 Cen-
tral Highlands of Vietnam who have long suffered dis-
crimination 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 Viet-
nam against invasion from the North, fighting coura-
geously 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 sin-
gled out for particularly harsh treatment by the com-
munist 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 evan-
gelical Protestant churches which the Vietnamese Gov-
ernment 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 sys-
tematic policy of encouraging migration by ethnic Viet-
namese to the Central Highlands, resulting in encroach-
ments on and confiscation of Montagnard communal
lands;
Whereas in recent years more and more Montagnard lands
have been confiscated as a result of Government pro-
grams aimed at the cultivation of coffee and other prod-
ucts 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 prac-
tices that prevent nongovernmental organizations from
working directly with Montagnards and divert in-kind hu-
manitarian assistance provided by international and non-
governmental 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 ex-
change 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 dem-
onstrations 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 re-
pression;
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 refu-
gees, 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 Commis-
sioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at sites in the north-
eastern 
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 govern-
ment, 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 of-
fering bounties for the surrender of asylum seekers, in-
cluding 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 meas-
ures 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
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That the Congress—
(1) urges the Government of Vietnam to allow
freedom of religious belief and practice to all
Montagnards including those who are evangelical
Christians belonging to denominations not recog-
nized by the Government; to return all traditional
Montagnard lands that have been confiscated or en-
croached upon; to allow nongovernmental and inter-
national humanitarian organizations to deliver hu-
manitarian assistance directly to Montagnards in
their villages, without interference or involvement by
Government officials; to open up all parts of the
Central Highlands to foreign and domestic journal-
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ists, human rights organizations, diplomats, and
other observers; and to withdraw its security forces
from Cambodia and stop hunting down refugees;
(2) commends the Royal Cambodian Govern-
ment for its official policy of guaranteeing tem-
porary asylum for Montagnards fleeing Vietnam;
(3) urges the Royal Cambodian Government to
take all necessary measures to ensure that all offi-
cials and employees of the local, provincial, and cen-
tral governments fully obey the policy of providing
temporary asylum; to make clear that such protec-
tion will be extended not only to Montagnards found
within Cambodia but also to those apprehended at
the border; to insist that the Government of Viet-
nam withdraw its officials and employees from Cam-
bodian territory and discontinue its efforts to secure
forcible repatriation of Montagnards; and to provide
security at sites where refugees are sheltered;
(4) commends the officials and employees in
Cambodia of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations
Human Rights Center for their assistance to and ad-
vocacy on behalf of Montagnard asylum seekers and
refugees, and urges them to continue and intensify
these efforts;
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(5) commends the Department of State for the
assistance to and advocacy of Montagnard asylum
seekers that have been provided by officials and em-
ployees of the United States Embassy in Phnom
Penh and urges that such efforts be continued and
intensified; and
(6) urges the Department of State to make
clear to the Government of Vietnam that continued
mistreatment of Montagnards and efforts to seek
forcible repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers
from Cambodia represent a grave threat to the proc-
ess of normalization of relations between the Gov-
ernments of the United States and Vietnam and, in
particular, a serious obstacle to any prospects for
the future provision of United States assistance to
the Government of Vietnam and to United States
support of such assistance by international financial
institutions.
Æ