Assessment for Montagnards in Vietnam

Risk Assessment | Analytic Summary | References

Risk Assessment

The Montagnards have three of the factors that increase the likelihood of rebellion in the future: territorial concentration; repression by the government; and a history of an active separatist movement between 1940-80. Factors that could inhibit future rebellion include minimal armed conflict in neighboring countries. There are still over a million Montagnards remaining in Vietnam and in the border areas of Cambodia and Laos. Very little information is available on the status of these hill peoples. They appear to still remain outside of the mainstream of Vietnamese life, maintaining their own dialects and surviving on subsistence agriculture. The Vietnamese government has reportedly moved large numbers of lowland Vietnamese into the hill areas and there are reports of clashes between them and the Montagnards.

Analytic Summary

The majority of the Montagnards reside in the central highlands region which borders northern Cambodia and southern Laos, and in the Darlac Plateau region in southern Vietnam. There has been group migration across regions due to a combination of voluntary movement, hardship, and threats of or actual attacks by dominant groups or state authorities.

The Montagnards are a diverse collection of ethnolinguistic groups including the Jarai, Rhad, Bahnar, Ede, and Stieng. They were first collectively referred to as Montagnards by the French who colonized the region in the 1800s. Group members subscribe to animist beliefs but in the past few decades many have also been active Protestants.

The Montagnards first came into contact with outsiders in the 1850s when the French began to settle in the central highlands. The French utilized indirect rule in the region, relying on traditional chiefs to collect taxes and oversee development. Beginning in the 1920s, the hill tribes began to lose their territory as their land was taken over by French interests who established large plantations. Some landless Montagnards became plantation laborers but lowland Vietnamese were also brought in to work on the plantations which resulted in further displacement of the tribals.

The hill tribes' resistance to rule by outsiders predates the Vietnam civil war. The Montagnards violently opposed the South Vietnamese government's efforts to control their regions of residence and assimilate the population. Tribal politicization led to the formation of the Bajaraka Movement followed in 1964 by the rebel United Front for the Struggle of the Oppressed Races (FULRO).

During the Vietnam war, the Montagnards sided with the United States against the communist north. The tribals were supplied by and fought alongside American troops. The central highlands where they reside were of strategic importance as the region included the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the main infiltration and supply route for the North Vietnamese. Despite the fall of Saigon and the withdrawal of US troops in 1975, the Montagnards continued their rebellion against the communist regime. It is estimated that FULRO had a force of around 10,000 guerrillas. However, by the late 1970s, FULRO was a depleted force having lost more than 8000 fighters. It was reduced to engaging in low-level sporadic armed attacks against state authorities (REBEL80X = 1).

Beginning in the early 1980s, the government of Vietnam sought to promote development while also encouraging the migration of Vietnamese into the central highlands. Although information is limited, the policies of social integration used to integrate tribal minorities in the north in the 1950s and 1960s were being used to ensure the compliance of the Montagnards. During the 1990s, hundreds of Montagnards were resettled in the US, some of whom were found living in Cambodia, while others were allowed to leave under the Orderly Departure Program following American pressure.

The hill tribals face significant demographic stresses. Once densely forested, more than 120,000 hectares have been cleared in the central highlands in the past decade to create coffee and cotton plantations. More than one million Vietnamese have migrated to the region as a result of government-sponsored programs and the Montagnards, many of whom are subsistence farmers, have been displaced from their land. The hill tribals face political and economic discrimination which is the result of historical neglect coupled with formal restrictions.

The Montagnards are seeking widespread autonomy in their regions of residence to help ensure the survival of their culture and lifeways. Protection of their land from encroachments by the Vietnamese along with promoting the region's economic development are key issues for most group members. In addition, government restrictions of the practice of religion severely restrict the freedom of the tribals. These restrictions include government control over the training and appointment of priests and nuns, the construction of places of worship and the operation of religious schools. In 2001, there were protests by Montagnards to demand autonomy. These protests were accompanied by clashes with lowland Vietnamese. Rural protests are rare in Vietnam, and this incident was the first in several years. The show of dissent was met with considerable repression by the Vietnamese government.

For the past forty years, group interests were primarily represented by FULRO; however, the limited information available indicates that the group is now defunct and has not engaged in anti-state activities since the early 1990s. The Montagnard Foundation, an NGO based in the US, actively lobbies for group interests including the emigration of the tribals. Reports do not refer to any existing organizations that are actively pursuing the group's goals.

Relations between the Montagnards and the Vietnamese erupted in minor violence in 2000 when some 150 Ede attacked a Kinh village in August. Four people were injured and several houses were destroyed. The Montagnards' relationship with the communist government appears to be tense. Public policies restricted the movements of group members and protest activities, as in 2001, are met with repressive measures.

References

1. The Europa Yearbook, Far East and Australasia 1993.

2. Far Eastern Economic Review, 1990-93.

3. Keesings Record of World Events, 1990-93.

4. Minorities at Risk, Phase I and II, overviews compiled respectively by Monty G. Marshall, 07/89 and Scott McDonald, 04/91.

5. Nexis Library Information, 1990-2003.