Persecuted in Hanoi, locked up in Bangkok: the Montagnards, Vietnam’s forgotten Christians
- The Montagnards have faced decades of persecution for backing America in the Vietnam war and for practising what Hanoi brands an ‘evil way’ religion
- Even for those who manage to escape the country, the future is often bleak
Jostling for space behind bars inside Bangkok’s notorious Immigration Detention Centre (IDC), Siu H’kli, 30, a Montagnard refugee from Vietnam, tries to make herself heard above the hundreds of other inmates trying to communicate with loved ones and charity workers.
“I’m very scared, I’m in here by myself but my kids are outside,” H’kli shouts at the top of her voice in her orange prison uniform. “It doesn’t matter where we go, we just cannot go back to Vietnam.”
Standing next to her is Nay Y Khot, 25. Despite sharing a squalid cell with around 130 other detained immigrants, he is also far more concerned about the prospect of being forced back to Vietnam.
“If I get sent back I’ll go back to jail and be tortured,” he explains.
H’kli and Y Khot are two of 85 Montagnards jailed in August after being arrested during raids in Nonthaburi province. A list of the adult detainees shows they range in age, from 18-year-olds to some who are in their 70s. A further 47 Montagnard children are being held at the Thai Ministry of Social Development and Human Security, according to Fortify Rights.
It’s just the latest in a seemingly never-ending cycle of hardship for Vietnam’s forgotten Christians.