CORREA, VIETNAM CAUCUS CALL ON BLINKEN TO INTERVENE IN CASE OF Y QUYNH BDAP, PREVENT EXTRADITION TO VIETNAM

CORREA, VIETNAM CAUCUS CALL ON BLINKEN TO INTERVENE IN CASE OF Y QUYNH BDAP, PREVENT EXTRADITION TO VIETNAM

"[W]e urge you…to intervene and prevent the extradition of Mr. Y Quynh Bdap from Thailand to Vietnam and to consider allowing Mr. Bdap to resettle in the United States."

Text of Letter (PDF)

SANTA ANA, Calif. -Today, Representative Lou Correa (D-CA), alongside his fellow co-chairs of the Congressional Vietnam Caucus, Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Michelle Steel (R-CA), and Chris Smith (R-NJ), led a letter to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken urging swift intervention in the case of Montagnard activist Y Quynh Bdap, a United Nations designated refugee who is currently facing extradition from Thailand to Vietnam, where he will face persecution, torture, and unfair treatment.

"As you know, the Vietnamese court has demonstrated a history of hasty trials, charging activists with crimes without evidence, and giving them harsh sentences under vague national security laws. In addition, the Vietnamese Public Security Ministry and prison management have been known to abuse, intimidate, and even torture activists in detention, with the goal of extracting a forced confession,"the members wrote. "Should Mr. Y Quynh Bdap be extradited to Vietnam, he will face the danger of torture and will not receive proper due process and a free trial. For this reason, international NGOs and UN bodies have condemned attempts to extradite Mr. Y Quynh Bdap to Vietnam."

Mr. Y Quynh Bdap is a UN-recognized refugee, an ethnic minority from Vietnam who founded the Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ), and an activist for religious freedom, indigenous protections, and human rights. His efforts to train ethnic Montagnards in Vietnam on Vietnamese and international laws, as well as how to collect and report religious persecutions, made him a target of the Hanoi regime. Mr. Bdap escaped to Thailand in 2018 and has been living under UN refugee status awaiting resettlement to a third country.

"Given this time sensitive matter, we urge you and the State Department to intervene and prevent the extradition of Mr. Y Quynh Bdap from Thailand to Vietnam,"the members concluded,"and to consider allowing Mr. Bdap to resettle in the United States."

You can read the full text of the letter HERE.