[American Thinker] The Montagnard tribes in the Central Highlands were among our most loyal allies in the fight against the communists during the Vietnam War. They fought alongside the U.S. Special Forces in epic battles and rescued countless Americans, including pilots, crews, and aircraft passengers. More than half of the Montagnards' adult male population was lost fighting for and in the place of Americans. Without their sacrifice, there would be many more names on that somber black granite wall ‐ the Vietnam Memorial.Today, our former Montagnard allies suffer immense persecution under the communist regime in Vietnam for their religious beliefs. Since the North's 1975 conquest of the Republic of South Vietnam, it is estimated that two thirds of the ethnic minorities have converted to Protestantism. They are forced to practice their worship in outlawed house-churches. The Vietnamese leadership is characterized by extreme paranoia and fear of organized religion, for it is in direct conflict with their political religion: communism. Those wishing to be ordained as a pastor must swear allegiance to the communist government and swear to put "the state" before God. All who refuse are arrested and tortured until they recant their religion, and if they do not, they are imprisoned or "disappeared." More than a hundred known Protestant Montagnard pastors are languishing in prison under deplorable and inhumane conditions. Despite this, they are not recognized by the Department of State as political prisoners.
More than 350 Christian Montagnard refugees have fled persecution in Vietnam and are seeking asylum in Thailand. Of these, 175 have been granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). However, they will continue to be held in the camps until a third country notifies UNHCR that it is willing to sponsor them. Countless other refugees who have fled religious and other persecution in Vietnam are also seeking refuge in Thailand.
There are frequent raids in the neighborhoods surrounding Bangkok, where refugees try to find a sense of community. According to International Christian Concern (ICC) (The Dispatch, 09/20/18):