Montagnard
Representative Addresses European Parliament Calls on European Union to Enforce
Human Rights in New Economic Agreement and Demands Vietnam Cease Ethnic
Cleansing of Degar Montagnards
Transnational Radical Party – 8/26/2008
On 25
August 2008 Mr. Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation addressed the
Sub Committee on Human Rights at the European Parliament in Brussels. The
purpose of the Sub Committee was to examine the human rights situation in the
context of the Economic Agreement between the EU and; Vietnam, Cambodia and
Laos. Present at this meeting were numerous European Parliamentarians and
officials, Human Rights Groups, NGOs and the Vietnamese Ambassador to the EU,
Mr. Manh Dzung Nguyen and the Cambodian Ambassador to the EU, Mrs. Saphoeun Sun.
The Laotian Ambassador however, failed to attend the meeting.
The current EU/Vietnam economic agreement has the so called democracy and human
rights clause which is supposed to promote human rights in these South East
Asian countries. Now the EU is now negotiating a new Bilateral Agreement with
Vietnam and the crucial issue for the Montagnard Foundation and numerous other
speakers at the Sub Committee was the noticeable lack of improvement of human
rights and democracy in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Having received generous aid
from Europe, Vietnam has in recent years responded by increasing political,
ethnic and religious persecution against the Degar Montagnards in brutal ethnic
cleansing. Hundreds of political and religious Degar prisoners currently
languish in prison and as recently as August 2008 Degar Montagnards have been
murdered by security forces. The Montagnard Foundation submitted a detailed
report of callous transmigration policies and religious persecution amounting to
Ethnic Cleansing against the Degar people by the government of Vietnam.
KOK KSOR, PRESIDENT OF THE MONTAGNARD FOUNDATION STATES:
Our people cry out for help and we respectfully ask the European Union take a
proactive lead on this issue so our people can co-exist peacefully in Vietnam
with the Vietnamese people. Our indigenous people desperately need your help to
resolve the matter.
Please click here to read the report
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