Court approves extradition of Vietnamese activist

The Criminal Court in Bangkok has ruled that Montagnard activist Y Quynh Bdap should be sent back to Vietnam where he faces terrorism charges.
The judge said there were sufficient grounds to approve the Vietnamese government’s extradition request, Radio Free Asia reported.
Thailand’s government will now have the final say on the fate of the human rights activist, who has said he fears he will be tortured, or even killed, if sent back.
“It is up to the government to execute the extradition in 90 days regardless of the court ruling,” the judge told the court.
Bdap, who is currently at the Bangkok Remand Prison, has 30 days to appeal. If he has not been extradited within 90 days he must be set free, the court said.
The activist has been living in Thailand since 2018 and was granted refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Bdap was arrested on June 11 after being interviewed by Canadian authorities at the country’s embassy in Bangkok about his refugee status in Canada.
The Vietnamese government pressed terrorism charges against him following deadly riots in Dak Lak province of Vietnam in June 2023. His involvement in the riots is unclear since he was not physically present there.
Bdap is an ethnic Ede, one of about 30 minority groups in Vietnam’s Central Highlands who were called Montagnards, or hill people, by French colonialists. 
The mainly Christian people say they have faced years of discrimination over religion and land rights. Vietnam rejects accusations of rights abuses against the community.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) earlier urged the Thai government not to deport Bdap, out of fear for his safety.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) made a similar demand, noting that Thailand is currently bidding for the third time for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. The election for a three-year term for 2025-27 will be held at UN headquarters in New York this month.
If Y Quynh Bdap is deported, Thailand would “not be fit to be elected” to the council, Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, said in June.
Human Rights Watch last month released a report detailing how Thai authorities have assisted neighbouring governments to take unlawful actions against refugees and dissidents from abroad, making the country increasingly unsafe for those fleeing persecution.
Some targets of transnational repression have become caught up in a “swap mart” in which foreign dissidents in Thailand are effectively traded for critics of the Thai government living abroad, it said.