Christian Montagnards 'under lockdown' as Cambodia deploys monitors to border
In this file 21 June 2005 photo, Montagnards perform in Freedom Plaza in Washington DC during a protest against alleged human rights abuses committed against them by the Vietnamese government. Security forces in Vietnam's Central Highlands are battling a small group of insurgents, said to be Montagnards, who authorities say attacked police stations on June 11. (Photo:AFP)
Fighting has intensified in Vietnam’s Central Highlands after security forces reportedly deployed tanks and helicopters to suppress an insurrection and protests by ethnic minority groups.
At least nine people have been killed and 39 people detained due to the unrest in Dak Lak province, home to nearly 30 groups known collectively as the Montagnards, or Dega, which apparently erupted four days ago, according to official Vietnam sources, who also claimed about 40 people wearing camouflage vests attacked two police stations in the Ea Tieu and Ea Ktur communes in the province on June 11.
Of the dead, state-linked Voice of Vietnam said, four were police officers, two were commune officials and three were local people. Another two police officers sustained serious injuries, Voice of Vietnam added.
“Apparently, big military operations are now going on in the Central Highlands with tanks and helicopters deployed amid a crackdown,” an official source said.
“Shooting and further reports of ambushes of Vietnamese police stations and the military have been reported to me and that the entire Central Highlands is under lockdown,” he added.
Dega people are considered a part of the Montagnard hill tribe community who fought alongside the US and allied troops during the Vietnam War. Many converted to Christianity and are now complaining of repressive policies like religious persecution and expropriation of land by local officials. Often, the Montagnards seek sanctuary during times of trouble in neighboring Cambodia, which goes to the polls in July.
Security forces “have arrested us, beat us up, tortured us. They have destroyed our houses. They have destroyed our churches,” local Dega people said in a statement on June 11.
The statement also said farmland had been confiscated and crops destroyed, while Dega people had been kidnapped “and sold to other countries.”
Their list of grievances has, at least in part, been backed by human rights groups. New York-based Human Rights Watch has said the Montagnards have been subjected to “constant surveillance and other forms of intimidation.”
This includes public criticism, arbitrary arrest and mistreatment in custody where the authorities question them about their religious and political affiliations and their efforts to flee Vietnam, ruled by the Communist Party.
To pacify the Montagnards, the public security ministry in Vietnam has advised residents to remain calm and follow the instructions of the authorities.
Meanwhile, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has dispatched police to Mondulkiri province, bordering Vietnam to the east and south, to inspect security, semi-official media reported.
He said Chhay Sinarithm, the national police deputy chief, would report any irregularity to the government to enable it to take action in time.
“Chaos is happening in Vietnam, but we have to be careful with people coming into our country,” Hun Sen said.
“We need to keep in touch with the Vietnamese side for security protection and must do anything not to provoke conflict with Vietnam.”
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