Y Quynh Bdap

Immediate Concerns

Y Quynh Bdap was supposed to have a hearing on his immigration status by a Thai court on July 15. However, the hearing has now been postponed until August. 

Y Quynh Bdap’s June 11 arrest was verified by VOA, RFA and AP. Y Quynh was detained a day after meeting with Canadian representatives at the embassy about his asylum application. He was arrested in response to a request by the foreign affairs office of the Thai public prosecutor, and the arrest warrant cited his conviction on terrorism charges, suggesting an extradition request had been made by Vietnam. Bdap is currently being held in pre-trial detention at Bangkok Remand Prison and faces imminent extradition to Vietnam, where he faces ten years behind bars.

Y Quynh Bdap’s arrest and potential extradition come at a time when transnational repression appears to be a growing issue. In remarks delivered this week, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, noted that in Southeast Asia, “there is a pattern emerging of transnational repression whereby human rights defenders seeking refuge in neighbouring countries have been subject to rendition and refoulement or disappeared and even killed. There are indications this trend may be becoming a global one and so I urge all States to have zero tolerance for such actions and to ensure full accountability of their security forces.” Canada so far has remained silent on Bdap’s detention.

Project88 has released an in-depth press statement on Y Quynh Bdap calling on Canada to take immediate action to secure his release, which can be accessed here, along with a brief video interview we made of Y Quynh speaking in his own words.

History of Activism

Y Quynh Bdap was charged with terrorism, allegedly in connection with the June 11, 2023 attack on government buildings in Dak Lak Province. Y Quynh was in Thailand at the time of the attack and claimed that he was not involved in any way. Despite charging him with terrorism, Vietnam has not made public any evidence against him to substantiate their claim. He was sentenced in absentia to 10 years' imprisonment. 

Previously, Y Quynh, who is an advocate for religious and ethnic minority groups in Vietnam, has been arrested a number of times and alleges that he was brutally beaten in 2010 while he was detained.

In 2008, after hundreds of people were jailed for demonstrating for equal rights for indigenous groups, Y Quynh compiled a list of people who were prosecuted for their political and religious beliefs and shared that list of political prisoners with members of his community. 

At that time, the Vietnamese government took land from Montagnards to build factories and rubber and coffee plantations with cheap compensation or even no compensation. Y Quynh found it unfair, so he helped people file lawsuits and get adequate compensation.

Due to his fear of imprisonment, in 2018 Y Quynh was forced to flee to Thailand as a refugee. There, he founded Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ) to help fight for religious freedom and an end to discrimination of ethnic minority groups in Vietnam.

Photo source: RFA