Commends: (1) the Royal Cambodian Government for its official policy of guaranteeing temporary asylum for Montagnards fleeing Vietnam and urges that Government to take specified measures, including providing security at sites where refugees are sheltered; (2) the officials and employees in Cambodia of the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Refugees and the UN Human Rights Center for their assistance to and advocacy on behalf of Montagnard asylum seekers and refugees; and (3) the Department of State for the assistance to and advocacy of Montagnard asylum seekers that have been provided by officials and employees of the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Urges the State Department to make clear to the Vietnamese Government that continued mistreatment of Montagnards and efforts to seek forcible repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers from Cambodia represent a grave threat to the normalization process between the Governments of the United States and Vietnam and a serious obstacle to any prospects for the future provision of U.S. assistance to that Government.
[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 178 Introduced in House (IH)]
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 Central Highlands of
Vietnam who have long suffered discrimination 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 Vietnam against invasion from the North,
fighting courageously 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 singled out for particularly
harsh treatment by the communist government of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam, 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 evangelical Protestant churches
which the Vietnamese Government 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 systematic policy of
encouraging migration by ethnic Vietnamese to the Central Highlands,
resulting in encroachments on and confiscation of Montagnard communal
lands;
Whereas in recent years more and more Montagnard lands have been confiscated as
a result of Government programs aimed at the cultivation of coffee and
other products 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
practices that prevent nongovernmental organizations from working
directly with Montagnards and divert in-kind humanitarian assistance
provided by international and nongovernmental organizations;
Whereas many thousands of Montagnards were eligible for the Orderly Departure
Program and other United States 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 exchange 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 demonstrations 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 repression;
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;
Whereas since February several hundred Montagnard refugees, 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 Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at sites in
the northeastern 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 government, 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 offering bounties for the surrender of asylum seekers,
including one instance in which Vietnamese security forces paid $3,200
in gold to local Cambodian officials in exchange 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 measures 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 recognized by the Government; to return all traditional
Montagnard lands that have been confiscated or encroached upon;
to allow nongovernmental and international humanitarian
organizations to deliver humanitarian 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 journalists,
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 Government for its
official policy of guaranteeing temporary asylum for
Montagnards fleeing Vietnam;
(3) urges the Royal Cambodian Government to take all
necessary measures to ensure that all officials and employees
of the local, provincial, and central governments fully obey
the policy of providing temporary asylum; to make clear that
such protection will be extended not only to Montagnards found
within Cambodia but also to those apprehended at the border; to
insist that the Government of Vietnam withdraw its officials
and employees from Cambodian 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
advocacy on behalf of Montagnard asylum seekers and refugees,
and urges them to continue and intensify these efforts;
(5) commends the Department of State for the assistance to
and advocacy of Montagnard asylum seekers that have been
provided by officials and employees 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 process of normalization of relations between the
Governments 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.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on International Relations.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E1261)
Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
Committee Agreed to Seek Consideration Under Suspension of the Rules, by Unanimous Consent.
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