police surrounded villages with predominantly Degar Montagnard Christians and invaded several settlements.
The Montagnard Foundation Incorporated (MFI), which has close contacts with this group in Vietnam, said it learned that last week Vietnamese security forces "commenced the excavation of tunnels at the mountain of Cu Ming and Cu Da to store ammunition, arms and various military equipments. The villagers in the surrounding area were forcibly restricted from leaving or entering their villages."
News of the military developments came shortly after US. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met with senior communist officials in Vietnam Sunday, June 3, during a visit aimed at boosting military ties with the former enemy. The visit is part of a tour of several Asian nations during which terrorism and regional security are also under discussion. Rumsfeld did not address the latest reports of a crackdown in the Central Highlands publicly.
MFI told BosNewsLife that the operation began May 29, a day after about 100 Vietnamese soldiers and police invaded the village of Buon Jun Yuh “searching for 300 Degar villagers from this village and the village of Buon U who had recently escaped across the border to Cambodia."
The organization stressed its sources noted that the 300 villagers fled because of what it called the "brutality imposed on them by security forces, namely harassment, arrests and torture." It said security forces forcibly restricted the Degar Montagnard villagers in the area from leaving, preventing them from attending to their farms.
MOBILE PHONES
In addition the Vietnamese military has also been searching for mobile phones in the Central Highlands, often the only way of communicating to the outside world, MFI said. It said that on May 12 an estimated 250 Vietnamese soldiers “commenced operations near the village of Buon Dak Ndrung in DakNong Province” and “conducted sweeping operations searching for anyone with a cell phone."
The soldiers allegedly also told villagers not to hold a peaceful demonstration in the area against government policies "permitting authorities to confiscate their farmland…and give it to Vietnamese new settlers," MFI claimed.
About 70 police officers also searched for mobile phones in the village of Dak Rteh in Daknong Province, MFI added. Similar operations were held in April in several villages of the Daklak Province, the organization explained.
AIR DEFENSE
The latest reported incidents added to concern in the region where in April Vietnamese soldiers "moved various ground to air defense weapons, anti-tank weapons and artillery to Cu Don Mountain,” MFI said. It added that it also remains concerned over an estimated 350 Degar Montagnard Christians in Vietnamese prisons for activities related to their Christian faith.
The Degar, referred to by French colonists as Montagnard or "mountain people", are the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands, but have been accused by Vietnam’s authorities of observing "an American religion" and of cooperating with American troops during the Vietnam War. Vietnamese authorities have strongly denied human rights abuses and describe reports of persecution as “Western propaganda.
Of the roughly 1-million Degar Montagnard people, close to half are Protestant, while around 200,000 are Catholic, according to estimates. MFI said it urged the international community to urge authorities in Vietnam to "prevent an escalation of violence in the region.” It also asked the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to ensure that the 300 latest Degar Montagnard asylum seekers in neighboring Cambodia receive protection “according to the 1951 Refugee Convention."
MFI and other groups have also called for a permanent presence of human rights groups and humanitarian organization in the Central Highlands. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from Vietnam).
