DEGAR MONTAGNARD VILLAGES SURROUNDED BY TROOPS

Read Press Release Previously Reported On 22 May 2006

UPDATE FROM PREVIOUS REPORT: The incident started on 9 May 2006 when an ethnic Vietnamese man named Muoi used a machete to seriously injure three Montagnard (Degar) villagers, where one of the victims almost bled to death. Medical authorities then refused to treat the Degar victims on the basis of racial discrimination. Police inflamed the situation by; arresting Degar students who intervened to save one of the victims and refusing to arrest the Vietnamese man who had committed the attacks. Now heavily armed soldiers have surrounded the Degar villages.

 

TROOPS SURROUND VILLAGES: Beginning on 12 May 2006 heavily armed Vietnamese government troops commenced operations at the Degar villages of Bon Co, Bon Blah, Bon Hok and Bon Phu at Krong Pa commune, Son Hoa District, Phu Yen Province . The soldiers blocked all the streets and roads to prevent Degar people from entering or leaving the villages. The soldiers then confiscated motorcycles and bicycles and took them to the communal office of Krong Pa and forced the owners to walk back to their villages.

Early in the morning of 15 May 2006 the villagers from these four villages got together and walked to the communal office of Krong Pa to protest. Most of the villagers were halted by the soldiers but 100 of them made it through the line of soldiers to the communal office. The government employees at the communal office had left their offices so the Degar Montagnards then went in the offices and took back their motorcycles and bicycles that had been confiscated.

At 6:00 o'clock PM on 15 May 2006 approximately 40 army trucks full of heavily armed soldiers surrounded the abovementioned four villages and it is feared the government will use this situation as an excuse to violently attack the Degars there. The Montagnard Foundation is urgently pleading to the international community for assistance to protect these villagers. If the government harms these villagers, it is feared the whole Central Highlands will stand up in another protest. The Montagnard Foundation prays for a peaceful solution and requests the Vietnamese soldiers use restraint.

 

THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION CALLS ON CONCERNED EMBASSIES IN VIETNAM AND THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO:

• Urgently raise this issue with authorities in Vietnam in order to prevent an escalation of violence in the region.
  


• Get urgent medical attention to the victims of the machete attacks.
  


• Ensure that Vietnamese authorities seriously address issues of discrimination against the Degar people and the attacker of the three Degar victims is dealt with according to law.
  
• Ensure a permanent presence to monitor the human rights situation in the Central Highlands by UN and international agencies and international NGOs.