UN experts condemn Thailand’s extradition of Montagnard refugee facing grave risks

Bdăp is a co-founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice, a peaceful civil society organisation advocating for the rights of Montagnard communities in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands.

United Nations human rights experts have voiced profound alarm over the extradition of Vietnamese Montagnard human rights defender Y Quynh Bdăp from Thailand to Viet Nam, warning that the move places him at immediate risk of torture, enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention and other severe human rights violations.

In a strongly worded statement, the experts stressed that Thailand’s decision constitutes a clear breach of the international legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits transferring a person to a country where they face a substantial and foreseeable danger of serious harm. This obligation applies universally — regardless of a person’s nationality, legal status or migration situation.

A Human Rights Defender at Risk

Bdăp is a co-founder of Montagnards Stand for Justice, a peaceful civil society organisation advocating for the rights of Montagnard communities in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands. He has faced longstanding persecution for his activism, prompting him to flee Viet Nam and obtain UNHCR-recognised refugee status in Thailand in 2019. At the time of his extradition, Bdăp was in the final stages of resettlement to a safe third country.

His arrest on 11 June 2024 by Thai Immigration Police followed an extradition request from Viet Nam, where he had been convicted in absentia on terrorism-related charges widely condemned as unjustified and politically motivated. Experts noted that the proceedings leading to his ten-year sentence lacked basic fair-trial guarantees.

On 30 September 2024, the Bangkok Criminal Court approved the extradition, a decision upheld by the Thai Court of Appeal on 26 November 2025. Despite warnings from UN bodies and rights organisations, Bdăp was forcibly returned to Viet Nam on 28 November. His family and legal team lost contact with him for many hours, only learning of his transfer the following day. His current whereabouts remain unknown — raising serious concerns of enforced disappearance.

Violations of International and Domestic Law

UN experts emphasised that Bdăp appears to have been targeted solely for the peaceful exercise of his fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, religion or belief, and his legitimate work defending human rights. They also underscored Thailand’s legal obligation to shield individuals on its territory from transnational repression — including intimidation, surveillance or coercion by foreign governments.

Both Thailand and Viet Nam are parties to the Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Thailand is additionally bound by the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as well as its own Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Act (2022), which explicitly bans extradition to a country where there is a real risk of torture or disappearance.

The experts warned that Thailand’s actions undermine these commitments and set a dangerous precedent for the protection of refugees and human rights defenders in the region.

Calls for Urgent Action

UN experts urged the Government of Viet Nam to immediately disclose Bdăp’s whereabouts, ensure his safety, and provide unrestricted access to independent legal counsel, family contact and international monitoring bodies. Any detention, they added, must fully comply with the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (Nelson Mandela Rules).

They also called for a full review of Bdăp’s conviction, including an effective right to appeal, and reiterated their intention to continue following the case closely. The experts had previously raised Bdăp’s situation with both governments in 2024 and 2025, warning that extradition would expose him to life-threatening harm.

The case has drawn widespread concern from human rights groups and underscores broader fears about shrinking civic space for refugees, activists and ethnic minorities across Southeast Asia. Advocates warn that the extradition may embolden further cross-border repression unless urgent international intervention and accountability measures are pursued.