Vietnamese dissident’s arrest raises alarm

Human rights organization urges the authorities to arrest Y Quynh Bdap, who is a immigrant.

Vietnamese dissident’s arrest raises alarm
This week, Asian advocate Y Quynh Bdap was detained in Bangkok. ( TV screen capture )

Out of fear for his safety, the National Human Rights Commission ( NHRC ) has urged the government to deport Vietnamese activist Y Quynh Bdap, who was detained in Bangkok this week.

The commission said it learned about his arrest on Thursday, and a civil society organization requested that it assist the advocate.

Y Quynh Bdap, 32, is a Christian from the Montangard tribal party in Vietnam’s Central Highlands. He is a co-founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice, a group that advocates for the freedom of religion. The Taiwanese government has long targeted Christian Montangards who belong to impartial house churches.

Bdap has been residing in Thailand since 2018 and has received refugee status from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ). Following the deadly riots in Vietnam’s Dak Lak state in June last year, the Taiwanese government charged him with terrorism. His presence in the unrest is undetermined.

According to reports, Bdap was detained on Tuesday following an interview with American authorities at the region’s embassy in Bangkok regarding his refugee standing there.

The NHRC was asked to assist in preventing the campaigner from returning to Vietnam because it is very possible that he will experience unfair trials it.

The committee has written to the Immigration Bureau informing it of its compliance with the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act Get 2565 and urging it to avoid being refouled or forced to return someone to a nation where they are likely to face harassment.

Thailand is required to follow the instructions in the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which it is a signatory.

Human Rights Watch ( HRW) made a similar demand.

Thailand must fulfill its obligations to defend migrants and show that it deserves to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council, according to Elaine Pearson, HRW’s Asia director.

Thailand is now seeking a second term in the government, with elections for 2025 to 2027 scheduled to take place in October at UN headquarters in New York.

If Y Quynh Bdap is deported, Thailand do” not be fit to become elected” to the government, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, wrote in a blog on X on Thursday.

A report from Human Rights Watch previous month detailed how Thai officials have assisted neighboring governments in carrying out immoral operations against immigrants and dissidents from worldwide, making Thailand extremely dangerous for those fleeing persecution.

Some targets of international suppression have been caught up in a” transfer mart,” where foreign dissidents in Thailand are essentially traded for Thai government employees who live abroad, according to the report.