Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Montagnards curdle in a Vietnamese coffee pot

Montagnards curdle in a Vietnamese coffee pot

Montagnards curdle in a Vietnamese coffee pot

BETWEEN 250 and 300 Montagnards are currently hiding in the remote jungles near the

Cambodian/Vietnamese border since fleeing Vietnam's coffee-producing central highlands

after violent unrest erupted in April, human rights workers said.

Documents listing names, dates and the Montagnard villages were shown to the Post

as a team from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) arrived

yesterday, July 15, in the northeast provinces of Ratanakkiri and Mondulkiri to assess

their claims for asylum.

"What matters is how this situation will evolve and whether the Cambodian government

will cooperate and provide unfettered access to the UNHCR and fulfill its mandate,"

one human rights worker said. "They should get a fair shot at assessing the

asylum claims."

More Montagnards are believed to be hiding in Vietnam amid protests rooted in religion,

land and the global coffee market, and authorities in both Cambodia and Vietnam have

resisted calls to allow to international and independent observers into the area.

Coffee cultivation was introduced to Vietnam's mountainous regions by French colonialists

and plantations subsequently nationalized when the county was reunified in 1975.

Demand for coffee-growing land surged, beginning in the 1980s, when private small-scale

cultivation was first permitted.

Since then the Montagnards have been displaced by an enormous migration of ethnic

Vietnamese from the lowlands into the once sparsely populated highland provinces.

With market prices on the rise internationally in the early 1990s the government

strongly encouraged these settlers to plant as much coffee as possible.

Over-planting made Vietnam one of the world's top coffee producers by the late 1990s

and a heavy contributor to a glut on the international marked that sent prices plummeting.

Hanoi's response was to grow more coffee to make up for the cash shortfall - resulting

in a further land-squeeze in Montagnard territory.

"It's very frustrating," a Vietnamese Embassy official once quipped at

a diplomatic function. "We can provide them with education, land and facilities,

but many just don't want to budge."

The hill tribes of central Vietnam and their cousins in Cambodia share similar traditions

to natives elsewhere in the world where a strong bond with the land is pivotal to

cultural survival.

And their struggle with modern day authoritarianism is not unlike the clash of cultures

experienced after the arrival of Europeans in Australia, Canada and the United States.

Some Montagnards - a broad term applied to a variety of ethnic hill tribes - have

in recent years taken to Christianity and a hybrid form of worship has evolved that

ties aspects of the protestant faith with traditional environmental values.

In communist Vietnam only officially sanctioned religions can be practiced, and the

Montagnards' style of worship is not one of them.

But the basic tenets of their creed have led to an assertion of religious and land-based

cultural rights pitting the Montagnards against a hardline regime that has no interest

in seeing a retention of the hill tribes' lifestyle.

According to Human Rights Watch, the April 10 crackdown on thousands of Montagnard

protestors in Buon Ma Thuot, the provincial capital of Dak Lak, was a violation of

UN Basic Principles.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions were also a violation of the International Covenant

on Civil and Political Rights, to which Vietnam is a party.

Montagnards who returned home after the demonstrations claimed their villages were

full of police, and they were effectively held under house arrest, prohibited from

leaving their homes, even for food shopping in the local markets or farming their

fields.

"Humanitarian assistance must go hand-in-hand with international protection.

They must have a safe place while their claims are being assessed in accordance with

the UNHCR mandate," the human rights worker said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Five-year-old Hanuman dances his way into hearts of Cambodia

    A young talent from a new-established settlement has emerged, captivating the online world with his mesmerising performances of the traditional Cambodian monkey dance. Roeun Kakada is a five-year-old prodigy who has taken the social media sphere by storm with his exceptional dance skills and dedication

  • Fresh Covid warnings as Thai hospital fills

    A senior health official reminds the public to remain vigilant, as neighbouring countries experience an increase in Covid-19 cases, with the latest surge appearing to be a result of the Omicron XBB.1.5 sub-variant. Or Vandine, secretary of state and spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health,

  • Honda shutters Siem Reap football club

    Japanese football legend Keisuke Honda, the owner of Siem Reap football club Soltilo Angkor FC, has been forced to shut the club down, after it failed to attract sponsorship for the upcoming season. Honda, the former manager of the Cambodia men's national football team, said

  • Hun Sen warns of regional tensions

    ASIA is becoming a dangerous geopolitical hotspot, with several countries announcing that they intend to send naval vessels towards Southeast Asia and on to the South China Sea, warned Prime Minister Hun Sen. “Heated geopolitical issues can easily escalate, namely to war. I am not

  • PM declares ASEAN Para Games open

    The 12th ASEAN Para Games officially kicked off on the evening of June 3 at Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh, with a spectacular opening ceremony featuring fireworks and performances by some of the Kingdom’s most accomplished talents. Tens of thousands of sports fans

  • Waterway job still pending for Kampot tourism port’s opening

    The search is still on for a contractor to expand and deepen the Kampot International Tourism Port’s waterway and deliver additional enhancements allowing safe access for larger vessels, nearly a year after the main construction work on the 4.25ha site was completed on June 30, 2022.