LONDON — An agreement to repatriate to Vietnam nearly one thousand tribal Christians who fled persecution in 2001 is causing concern among international Vietnam watchers.
Hundreds of Vietnam’s 500,000 tribal Christians in the Central Highlands fled to neighboring Cambodia after the authorities launched a vicious anti-Christian campaign in mid 2001 in response to February street protests over land rights and religious persecution.
The agreement announced Jan. 22 among the governments of Vietnam, Cambodia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will send 1,000 asylum seekers back to their homes within weeks. According to UNHCR spokesperson Jahanshah Assadi, it is a “voluntary program.”
Vietnam watchers are calling on Western Christians to pressure their governments to clarify the status of the 1,000 asylum seekers who have a “well-founded fear of persecution” and to ensure that they will not be forced to return. Advocates are asking the United States to use trade agreements as leverage to stop the repatriation.
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