Human rights abuses of Vietnamese ethnic minorities
In April 1975, the last US helicopter flew out of Ho Chi Minh city signalling an end to what the Vietnamese call the American war. But Vietnam’s Central Highlands remain the scene of continuing tensions between ethnic minority hill tribe peoples and the Vietnamese government. Many of the highland ethnic groups, called Montagnards fought with the US in the American war and embraced a form of protestant evangelical christianity that is not sanctioned by the Vietnamese government. Brad Adams, Asia Director of Human Rights Watch says recent Vietnamese legislation ostensibly drafted to protect religious freedom, is being interpreted to persecute Montagnards. Kok Ksor, head of the US based Montagnard Foundation says the desire to control key highland industries like rubber and coffee plantations is also driving persecution of Montagnard peoples.