70 Vietnamese Montagnard refugees detained in Thailand

Approximately 70 Vietnamese refugees were detained by Thai immigration authorities in Nonthaburi, a suburb north of Thailand’s capital Bangkok, on the morning of 29 October. The arrests targeted a Montagnard refugee community, some of whom had protective status from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR).

The arrests were carried out at around 5.00 am local time by officers from the Immigration Bureau, and the detainees were subsequently transferred by coaches to the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Suan Phlu, Bangkok. No formal charges have been announced against the detainees.

The Montagnards, a predominantly Christian indigenous group from Vietnam’s Central Highlands, have historically faced systemic discrimination, religious repression, and land dispossession in their native Vietnam, which has increased after the Dak Lak attacks on a police station in June 2023. Approximately 500 Montagnards are currently estimated to be residing in Thailand while awaiting refugee status determination by the UNHCR.

CSW’s CEO Scot Bower said: ‘This group of Montagnards fled religious and ethnic persecution in Vietnam in the hopes of finding a safer life. This mass arrest shows that they are still vulnerable and that the effects of a lack of freedom of religion or belief extend beyond the border of Vietnam. Thailand and Vietnam must do more to uphold the rights of refugees and uphold the higher standard expected of them as members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.’

Thailand is not a signatory of the 1951 refugee convention which provides legal protection to refugees as they await resettlement and status determination. Thailand views any refugee or asylum seeker, regardless of UNHCR status, as being in breach of Thai immigration law. This places all refugees and asylum seekers at risk of arbitrary detention, harassment and refoulment.

In February 2024 a group of UN special rapporteurs issued an accusation letter to the Thai government highlighting concerns about the conditions faced by Uyghur detainees in the Suan Phlu IDC. The letter described ‘prolonged detention, inhumane conditions… and inadequate medical care’.