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Commentary:
Unrest in Vietnam's Central Highlands

The Vietnamese government has cracked down hard on a group of ethnic minorities who intended a peaceful demonstrations in the central highlands on Saturday, April 10.

Three years after serious political dissent in Vietnam's central highlands, the government again finds itself in trouble with ethnic minorities who make up more than 10 percent of the population.

According to reports, on April 10, the day before Easter, some 2,000 persons from several minority groups converged on Buon Ma Thuot to protest the loss of their land and religious repression. Security police made some arrests and many people were injured. The government rushed additional troops to the area.

The Foreign Ministry blamed the protests on "extremists" and said that the local government had taken measures to stabilize the situation and that life had returned to "normal."

In January and February, 2001, military forces put down demonstrations in three provinces, Dak Lak (Buon Ma Thuot), Gia Lai (Plieku) and Kon Tum. The grievances were the same.

Traditionally the minority people held land in common and practised slash and burn agriculture. With reunification in 1975, many land-starved settlers of the dominant Kinh (Vietnamese) group from the north moved into the central highlands and were deeded rights to much of the land. The government urged the planting of coffee trees. When the world coffee prices went flat a few years ago, the minorities suffered severe economic deprivation.

With the success of the revolution in 1975, the communist government controlled all religious activity in the country. Many rural church buildings were destroyed and many pastors imprisoned. However, with economic reforms beginning in 1987 and expanding relations with other countries, the government has allowed religious groups more freedom.

In April 2001 the Evangelical Church of Vietnam (South) was given legal status. However, even though hundreds of churches in the highlands had a relationship with ECVN, only a few of them were given member status in the newly-recognized church body. Evangelical Christians in many areas, numbering several hundred thousand persons, were not allowed to meet in homes and pastors were not permitted to conduct marriages or funeral services.

There are many documented cases of Christians being forced to renounce their faith. Even though the Vietnamese Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, many officials fear that allowing these Christians to practise their faith freely will encourage an independence movement.

The government has acknowledged legitimate land grievances among the minority people and has implemented programs to improve their physical and economic life. These latest demonstrations apparently surprised government officials who thought they were making progress in resolving the problems. But religious repression has continued.

The Foreign Ministry denies this. After the recent demonstration, spokesman Le Dung said, "The Vietnamese state's policy is to consolidate the national unity and always improve the material and spiritual life of all our people with special care and attention given to those living in mountainous and remote areas, including the Central Highland provinces. Vietnam's laws guarantee the right to freedoms of religions and beliefs and freedoms of non-religions or beliefs. This is inscribed in the Constitution and respected in reality. The so-called 'persecution of Montagnard Protestants' is absolutely nonexistent."

As "evidence" of freedom, the Vietnam news agency reported an inauguration ceremony for a Protestant Chapter with 4,800 members on April 13 in Gia Lai province, which included a baptismal service. Given that the Christians used to meet on Sunday, a Tuesday meeting suggests that this ceremony might have been hastily arranged by government officials. The Foreign Ministry later said that 11 Protestant Chapters had been set up in the province. This is a recent development that might offer some relief.

That same day Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung traveled to Dak Lak province and urged the local government to focus on improving the living conditions of ethnic minorities in order to maintain social order. He told local authorities to resolve 80 percent of the land allotment cases for ethnic minority groups and to provide more services to help them stabilize their production and lives. He said that socio-economic development is the key to stability in the region.

Vietnam has made great strides in economic and infrastructure development in the last decade, and is looking forward to joining the World Trade Organization in the next year. Much is at stake in the current unrest and pragmatic leaders in Vietnam should recognize that a greater degree of religious freedom is essential to Vietnam's long-term national stability.