Responding to the extradition of Montagnard and Ede Indigenous human rights defender Y Quynh Bdap from Thailand to Viet Nam, Amnesty International’s Thailand Researcher Chanatip Tatiyakaroonwong said:
“This extradition is a grave failure of Thailand’s human rights obligations. Sending an Indigenous activist back to a country with a well-documented pattern of torture and discrimination against Montagnards puts Y Quynh Bdap in serious danger.
“Vietnamese courts have a long track record of convicting activists in proceedings that fall far short of international fair trial standards. By handing Y Quynh Bdap over to the very authorities he fled on the basis of a conviction obtained through an unfair trial, Thailand has violated one of the most fundamental protections in international law.
“Following the return of Uyghurs to China earlier this year, this is the second time Thailand has blatantly returned people to their countries despite risks of grave human rights violations despite a domestic law prohibiting torture and non-refoulment that came into force in 2023.
“Thai authorities must ensure safety and protection for all those fleeing persecution – including Indigenous and religious minorities from Viet Nam – rather than putting them at risk of harm.”
Background
On 26 November 2025, Thailand’s Court of Appeal delivered a verdict authorizing the extradition of Y Quynh Bdap, a UN-recognized refugee who had lived in Thailand since 2018. According to Bdap’s lawyers, the verdict hearing was only scheduled one day in advance.
Bdap was removed to Viet Nam despite long-standing concerns about the safety of Indigenous activists returned there. He had been arrested for overstaying his visa in June 2024 after Vietnamese authorities requested his extradition, claiming he had been sentenced in absentia to 10 years’ imprisonment on terrorism charges earlier that year. Previously, Amnesty International had called for Thai authorities not to extradite Bdap due to high risks of torture.
Bdap, a member of the Ede ethnic minority, co-founded Montagnards Stand for Justice, an organization that documents abuses against Central Highlands Indigenous communities and advocates for their religious and cultural rights. Vietnamese authorities accused him and five other Montagnard individuals of involvement in an attack on a government building in Dak Lak province in June 2023. Bdap has consistently rejected these allegations.
Amnesty International has repeatedly documented widespread persecution of Montagnard communities who face arbitrary arrest, torture, and severe restrictions on religious practice and movement. Following the 2023 attack in Dak Lak, Montagnards reported mass detentions, security lockdowns and violent interrogations. Several people described being beaten, electrocuted or injected with unknown substances during questioning.
According to Bdap, he was tortured during an arrest in 2010, describing severe beatings and mistreatment at a police station. His account echoes patterns Amnesty International has reported for more than a decade, including cases where prisoners were confined in tiny cells for months, chained for extended periods, or given contaminated food and water.
Despite ratifying the UN Convention against Torture in 2015, Viet Nam continues to rely on abusive detention practices. Prisoners of conscience, political detainees and members of ethnic and religious minorities are particularly targeted.
Thailand’s decision to extradite Bdap also breaches its obligations under international and domestic law. The principle of non-refoulement—contained in the UN Convention against Torture and reflected in Thailand’s Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance—strictly prohibits sending anyone to a country where they are in danger of torture. Despite these obligations, Thailand recently deported 40 Uyghur men to China, placing them at high risks of severe human rights violations.
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