Authorities in Vietnam have arrested Y Po Mlo, a 63-year-old member of the Montagnard community. He was arrested on the charges of “undermining the solidarity policy” and was accused of receiving instructions from Montagnard dissidents and providing them false information about the Montagnard community in Vietnam. Authorities made Y Po Mlo practice self-criticism by “educating” him.

Montagnard is a French term that means “mountain people.” The name refers to different tribes living in the central highlands of Vietnam. Many of them belong to Christian denominations and suffer from discrimination from Vietnamese authorities connected to their land and religious freedom rights.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, Y Po Mlo frequently contacted Thailand-based Montagnard dissidents and received orders from them. His alleged contacts in Thailand, Y Min Alur, Y Thanh Eban, and Y Pher Hdrue, and in the USA, Y Mut Mlo, are accused of being members of the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO), an organization that existed between 1964 and 1992 that worked for the autonomy of minorities in Vietnam and was deemed a terrorist organization by the Vietnamese government.

Radio Free Asia (RFA) managed to get in contact with some of the alleged contacts of Y Po Mlo, but they denied having any contact with or even knowing him.

“I don’t know where this person is or what he looks like. I’m in Thailand, where I speak out about the issue of religion and human rights, about issues such as religious oppression by the Vietnamese Communist Party and taking land from our ethnic people.”

Said Y Min Alur, a member of the Evangelical Church in Phu Yen province, who had to flee from his home because of religious persecution. Y Pher Hdrue, another Montagnard dissident in Thailand, said that the accusations against Y Plo Mlo only served as excuses for his arrest.

Vietnamese media reported that after police searched Mlo’s home, they found documents connected to “Montagnards for Justice” and “Montagnard Support Group.” Y Phic Hdok, founding member of Montagnards for Justice (MSFJ), said to RFA that,

“After verifying with MSFJ members in Thailand, we confirm that we do not know who Y Po Mlo is and have never worked with him.”

He also added that MSFJ has no ties to FULRO and only collects information about persecution and human rights violations in Central Highlands that they report to international organizations and the United Nations. Ha said that these arbitrary arrests are used to slander MSFJ as a terrorist organization and try to discredit their reports.

The Vietnamese government and the communist party work tirelessly to discredit or brand Montagnard activists and their organizations as terrorists. Whoever voices opposing opinions about religious freedom, land rights, and human rights violations committed by Vietnamese authorities against Montagnards most likely will face persecution.

Source: RFA

Photo: Eddie Adams