The Vientiane opportunity<\/p>\n
Verghese Mathews
\nNew Straits Times
\nKuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
ASEAN's 10th summit in Vientiane, Laos, is a good time to
\naddress what is rapidly becoming a major problem for three
\nmembers of the grouping: The fate of the Montagnards in the
\ncentral highlands of Vietnam.<\/p>\n
ASEAN has come a long way from the crestfallen days of the
\nAsian financial crisis when even its close allies and trading
\npartners seriously questioned its ability to get itself out of a
\nself-created quagmire. Some cynics even wrote ASEAN off as a
\nfading sunset grouping.<\/p>\n
When ASEAN leaders meet in Vientiane this week such disquiet
\nis well behind them -- not because of the passage of time but
\nbecause member countries took bold and unpopular steps to redress
\nthe situation in which they had found themselves.<\/p>\n
The point to be made here is that when faced with a common
\nthreat, one which they could not ignore, ASEAN members closed
\nranks.<\/p>\n
ASEAN leaders in Vientiane will no doubt build on the renewed
\nconfidence the grouping enjoys in the international community.<\/p>\n
While this is both necessary and important, it will surely
\nstand the organization in good stead to look well beyond economic
\nachievements and anti-terrorist co-operation. ASEAN needs to
\nurgently take cognizance of festering local issues that have the
\ninvariable tendency to spill over, then inch their way to become
\nbilateral problems and end up being regional embarrassments.<\/p>\n
Southern Thailand comes quickly to mind and in a slightly
\ndifferent context, so does Myanmar.<\/p>\n
It is important that ASEAN leaders are adequately briefed
\nbefore arriving in the Laotian capital about another festering
\nproblem -- that of the Montagnards, meaning \"mountain people\",
\nthe collective name given by the French to the numerous
\nindigenous tribes and aboriginal groups inhabiting the Vietnamese
\nCentral Highlands.<\/p>\n
The Montagnards inhabited the central highlands \"long before
\nCambodia, Laos or Vietnam became nations in the modern sense\".
\nAnd yet there is now an influx of desperate Montagnards leaving
\ntheir ancestral homes for Cambodia -- initially in search of
\nasylum and third-country resettlement, citing relentless
\nreligious persecution, increasing marginalisation and the blatant
\nconfiscation of their land. The Vietnamese Government has
\nrejected these allegations.<\/p>\n
When the UNHCR informed the Montagnards that this was not one
\nof its functions, some disappointed ones chose to make the two-
\nday jungle trek back to the central highlands. However, the
\nmajority, now numbering more than 500, have decided to remain in
\nCambodia until their land problem is resolved. They have refused
\nall offers of resettlement in the United States.<\/p>\n
In effect, what was essentially a Vietnamese problem is now a
\nCambodian problem -- worse, a problem not of its making. For
\nobvious financial and political reasons, Cambodia has decided
\nthat its territory will only serve as a transit point for the
\nMontagnards.<\/p>\n
As the Montagnards are now no longer willing to remain in the
\nborder provinces but head directly to Cambodia's capital where
\nthey have greater access to the media and the international
\ncommunity, their presence has now become a UNHCR problem as well.
\nThe UNHCR is unable to provide temporary accommodation in the
\ncapital and it has become increasingly difficult to persuade the
\nrefugees to return to Vietnam. It does not end there.<\/p>\n
Slowly, others are getting into the picture. Some Montagnards
\nwho resettled earlier in the U.S. are actively promoting
\ninternational awareness of the plight of their relatives. As most
\nof the Montagnards are Christians, there is a religious
\ndimension, with Western church groups joining the chorus of those
\ndemanding a political solution to the Montagnard problem. They
\nare agitating for Vietnam to reverse the policies that are
\nforcing the Montagnards to desert the sacred homeland of their
\nforefathers.<\/p>\n
There is yet another dimension to this. The Montagnards are
\nsaid to have fought heroically alongside U.S. forces during the
\nVietnam War and have been widely recognized by U.S. war veterans
\nas the \"true friends of the Americans\" in Vietnam. The
\nMontagnards have paid very heavily for this alliance -- an
\nestimated 50 percent of male Montagnards were killed in the
\nVietnam War.<\/p>\n
We won't have to wait too long to find out whether or not the
\nsummit in Vientiane proves to be a turning point for ASEAN, with
\nits leaders deciding how best to address the festering
\ndevelopment in the Central Highlands, the growing divisiveness in
\nsouthern Thailand and the lack of meaningful progress in Yangon.
\nFor the sake of all our peoples, we hope that our leaders will
\nnot let the Vientiane opportunity pass them by.<\/p>\n
The writer, until recently Singapore's Ambassador to Cambodia,
\nis at present a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of
\nSoutheast Asian Studies, Singapore.<\/p>",
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