I. INTRODUCTION

A.   EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: THE MONTAGNARDS OR DEGAR PEOPLES  

We the Montagnards or Degar peoples are the indigenous peoples of South-East Asia who for over 2,000 years inhabited the “Central Highlands” - the western mountains of what today is part of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV). Often called ‘Hill Tribes’ our proud peoples of over 40 tribal groups are however, recognized as indigenous peoples by the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations. Historically our world revolved around village communities where we practiced traditional farming, hunting and fishing.    

On 27 May 1946 the French colonial government granted us autonomy under a federal ordinance. However, we the Montagnard peoples would find these lands taken away by invaders and our population decimated during the successive indo-china wars. Like many indigenous peoples around the world we have suffered from exploitation, warfare, discrimination and loss of traditional lands. 

Today this devastation continues and only half a million of our people are now left from a population that once numbered 3 million. We are faced today with continued and sustained policies of forced assimilation, human rights violations and genocide enacted by the current Vietnamese government. These policies include sterilizations, executions, imprisonment, torture and forced relocations of whole villages. The goal of the Vietnamese government appears to fully absorb our lands into the SRV, erode our unique culture and lower our population. This report will identify this expropriation of our homelands and fully document in 12 categories, the forced assimilation, continuing violations of human rights and resulting genocide upon our Peoples.

A comprehensive history of the Montagnard Peoples is available by request from Mr. Kok Ksor, the Executive Director of the Montagnard Foundation and member of the Jarai peoples.  

Before identifying the human rights violations and the impact of SRV policy on the Montagnard/Degar population, there are some important issues, which need clarification. 

• We the Montagnards or Degar Peoples are not ethnic Vietnamese but are from Malayo-Polynesian and Mon-Khmer origins. We have developed and maintained our own separate and distinct religions, languages, and cultures. Further, we are not ethnically or geographically related to the other hill tribes that reside in northern Vietnam. This distinction highlights our unique culture and our peoples as the original indigenous peoples of Vietnam. 

• We the Montagnards have always inhabited a specific region – “the Central Highlands” now part   of western Vietnam. In 1946 the French colonial government specifically granted us autonomy over these lands under a “Federal Ordinance”. This autonomy and our lands were taken away by invading Vietnamese governments. 

• We the Montagnards of the Central Highlands were recruited by the CIA and US Special Forces during the Vietnam war to fight the communists in exchange for US promises of protection and support. When the US left Vietnam in 1975, 85% of our villages were destroyed and over 200,000 of our people were killed due to warfare. 

• We the Montagnards were abandoned in 1975 to face the vengeful invading communists – alone and without support. Thousands more of us would die as North Vietnam invaded our homelands. Battles with the SRV continued into the early 1990’s. The last 400 Montagnard soldiers fighting for survival surrendered to UN Forces in 1992. These Montagnard soldiers now remain in exile in the USA unable to return to their homelands while the remaining Montagnard population in Vietnam struggles to survive against a repressive government.  

• We the Montagnards since 1975 have lost all autonomy and self-determination and today are facing continued policies of forced assimilation and genocidal practices.

After 1975 the victorious North Vietnamese government invaded the Central Highlands and took revenge upon us for joining forces with the Americans. Our lands were over run and our people killed, imprisoned and forced from their traditional villages. In 1976 the Vietnamese Vice Minister of Culture stated: 

“It is necessary to eradicate all the outmoded customs…while gradually bringing the new culture to each minority…The state has the duty to bring new, progressive culture to these people…in order to build a new culture with socialist objectives and Vietnamese national characteristics.”  

 Ever since, the Vietnamese Government has embarked on policies of forced assimilation, genocidal practices and the expropriation of Montagnard lands, in order to absorb the Central Highlands securely into the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Vietnamese policy is self-evident and clear – to secure Montagnard lands into Vietnam, punish the indigenous peoples and strip our lands of natural resources. 

The current Vietnamese government is committing numerous human rights violations. Firstly they are illegally occupying our traditional lands. Secondly they are committing forced assimilation and discrimination against us, through overlapping processes. These processes involve; the loss of our traditional lands, deforestation, population transfers onto our lands, prohibitions of our traditions and lack of autonomy. Most Montagnard villages in Vietnam have been forcibly relocated. All these policies lead to the same goal – the assimilation of Montagnards into Vietnamese society and the erosion of Montagnard culture. Thirdly, these and the other listed violations such as executions and sterilizations result in Montagnard deaths and constitute an policy of genocide. During French colonialism there were an estimated population of three million Montagnards.

• Today - estimates indicate as little as half a million may now survive.