Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: November 22, 2025
At 5am on Wednesday 29 October, Thai immigration authorities targeted a community of Vietnamese refugees in a suburb just north of Bangkok.
They detained approximately 70 people and transferred them to an immigration detention centre in Bangkok.
They were all Montagnards – a predominantly Christian indigenous group from Vietnam’s Central Highlands, which has a history of being targeted.
‘This group of Montagnards fled religious and ethnic persecution in Vietnam in the hopes of finding a safer life,’ said Scot, our CEO. ‘This mass arrest shows that they are still vulnerable beyond the border of Vietnam.’
Some of the 70 detainees have protective status from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR). But this clearly made no difference to the Thai authorities.
Because Thailand has not signed the 1951 refugee convention, any refugee or asylum seeker is seen as being in breach of immigration law if they cannot show a valid visa. This makes them particularly vulnerable.
Please pray:
- That the 70 detained Montagnards would not be sent back to danger in Vietnam, but would be set free and able to reach a place of safety.
- For the wellbeing of all being held in this immigration detention centre in Bangkok. The conditions have been described as inhumane, with inadequate medical care.
- For an end to the targeting of the Montagnard community in Vietnam, and protection of those who have fled the country. Approximately 500 Montagnards are estimated to be waiting for refugee status in Thailand.
- That Thailand and Vietnam would do more to uphold the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, especially as members of the United Nations Human Rights Council.