OPINION:
Religious persecution is on the rise globally, and authoritarian nations such as Vietnam continue to harass peaceful religious voices. Sadly, the United States is missing in action as Y Quynh Bdap is stuck in prison in Thailand and awaiting extradition to his home country — for the crime of religious expression.
The Biden administration should call on Thailand’s government to respect its own domestic law and international treaties and desist from extraditing Mr. Bdap, a Vietnamese religious freedom advocate. This would be a win not just for the rule of law and this man but for high-profile human rights dissidents stranded in Thailand and other countries.
The U.S. government understands how frustrating it can be to seek the welfare of our own citizens when they are captured or detained by enemies, whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or Iran or the more recent kangaroo court cases against American journalists in Russia. Indeed, much of the world recently watched the bizarre spectacle of two American journalists, Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich, who received sham prison sentences in Russian courts.
Despite how powerless Washington can seem in some cases of injustice, the United States continues to be a force for good for political prisoners and refugees around the world. But one area that needs immediate action is to call on friendly governments, such as Thailand and others, to live up to their responsibilities to protect legitimate asylum-seekers and political refugees. Congress has urged such action both in written correspondence and telephone conversations with U.S. and Thai diplomats.
Mr. Bdap is a case in point. A member of the Christian Montagnard minority, he was tried in absentia and labeled a “terrorist” for allegedly participating in protests in Vietnam a year ago. But Mr. Bdap was not in Vietnam when the protests occurred, and there is no compelling evidence that he has ever called for violence on behalf of persecuted minorities.
As the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has observed, Vietnam continues to persecute religious individuals and institutions because Washington refuses to label Vietnam a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act.
While it was not that long ago that many of us hoped Vietnam was signaling an openness to change, the ruling Communist Party continues to show its true colors of manipulation and deception. Indeed, as documented by USCIRF, Open Doors International and many other groups, Vietnam continues to be a systematic and egregious violator of religious liberty and other fundamental freedoms.
Mr. Bdap is stuck in Thailand while looking for a third-party government to take him in, as he has been designated a refugee by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Thailand has a domestic law on the books, the Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances, that forbids its government from expelling or deporting someone to a country where there is a reasonable expectation that the individual will be harmed, killed or “disappeared.”
In Vietnam, such an expectation is not only reasonable but practically guaranteed.
Thailand is a signatory to many international covenants that protect refugees, such as the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to the International Convention for Protection of All Persons From Enforced Disappearance. These treaties are designed to protect those who face the threat of imprisonment, torture and murder upon returning home.
The United States can be a voice for good on this matter in urging our oldest ally in Asia to follow its international obligations. The Biden administration must immediately take a bold step and call upon Thailand to protect the rights of refugee Y Quynh Bdap. Without action, Mr. Bdap faces an unjust punishment at the hands of Vietnam’s authoritarian regime.
• Rep. Michelle Steel represents California’s 45th Congressional District. Eric Patterson is president and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
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