A cry for help from the Hmong in Bangkok, Thailand

  Below are the contents of a letter written by two Hmong, who have faced religious persecution in Vietnam, fled to Thailand to seek asylum and been detained in Thailand’s Immigration Detention Center. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has not recognized them as political refugees yet. This letter was sent to Vietnamese media outlets for publishing as a plea for help.

We are not animals

Among the preliminary international conventions on human rights, a person’s right to be treated as a human being has been considered the most important one because human beings are distinct from animals for having faith, language and self-esteem. The entire world has recognized this openly and clearly.

Communist Vietnam signed the Convention on Human Rights of the United Nations for the need to be recognized around the world. Communist Vietnam has also committed to fully implement all the signed contents. But, in reality, they do not act accordingly, especially the ways they treat our fellow Hmong.

Our ethnic minorities have lived in unity with one another for many generations and we should have equal rights compared to everyone else. However, in order to make us an illiterate population for their easy control the Vietnamese communist rulers have not allowed us to go to school like other citizens. [We] learn Vietnamese with self-study. We are not animals therefore we need knowledge and language for communication.

Why isn’t a Vietnamese allowed to learn Vietnamese? That is the most ridiculous thing of the communist regime.Communists are atheists. They do not believe in religious faith. Yet they still lie to the world that there is religious freedom in Vietnam, but the whole truth is the opposite. For instance, on February 12, 2007, police came to Ngay Thau village, Thu Ta, Xin Man, Ha Giang province, to force our Christian Protestants to denounce our religious faith. From 2007 to 2010 police and the army had come to our village 10 times to persecute us. They destroyed our homes, beat and arrested many people. Even someone like Giang Seo Sinh has recently died under the communist hands for keeping religious faith. In the incident happened at Muong Nhe, Tuyen Quang province, communist police arrested Duong Van Minh and Thao Quan Mua. [These cases] have shown that religious freedom in Vietnam is only a deception of the communist government. We need to have religious faith for living a good life. We need language to communicate. But [we are prevented from getting] these needs by the communists. We need freedom and equality. We are not animals!

Please save our Hmong people!

April 17, 2014.

The prisoners: 

Giang Seo Chang

Giang A Yao

Giàng Seo Cháng/Giàng A Diêu Translated by Nhu Ngoc