Letter to President Trump Requesting Help On Persecution of Dega Christians by Vietnam
November, 4, 2017
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Honorable President Trump,
First of all, I thank God Almighty for choosing you as the President of the United States of America. God chose a person who follows Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
According to your presidential campaign in 2016, you promised all Christians you would assist us if we came to you for help with our problems. As the Christian leader of the great United States, we request the U.S. intervene to end the persecution of the Christian Dega (Montagnard) people by Vietnam. To this day Vietnam continues to violate human rights.
My name is Y-Duen Buondap, and I am a representative of the International Dega Church. I am an American citizen. I have lived in the United States for about 22 years now. I love the United States of America. I am a lucky person to be living in a country that grants freedom and peace. I want the same for the Dega people in Vietnam who suffer for our Christian religious practices. Because of religious persecution by Vietnam, I was forced to flee my homeland in the Central Highlands. Under God’s wings I survived 17 years in the jungle range of central Vietnam to Cambodia. I encountered many dangerous barriers in my life simply because I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Thanks to the Cambodian government officials, I was rescued by the UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) which helped keep the peace in the region. I began to recover. By Jesus Christ’s grace, I was provided with protection that made my life today possible. I am so grateful and incredibly lucky to have survived that time period.
I am thankful to the United States Government for accepting the first group of 200 Montagnard FULRO members from the Thailand border in 1986. I came with the second group of about 400 Montagnard men, women and children who came to the U.S. in October 1992. The United States allowed these 2 groups to come to America without such heavy conflict over our immigration. I am grateful for the U.S. welcoming me to this great country that I now call home.
We the Montagnards were forced to defend ourselves against Vietnamese communists, who caused the outbreak of the Vietnam War. The aftermath of the war concluded with the death of over 58,220 American soldiers. After Americans withdrew from Vietnam in 1974, persecution of the predominantly Christian Montagnard people became full-scale genocide. In 1975 the North Vietnamese communists took over South Vietnam. To this day, the Dega Montagnard people are persecuted because of our support of and dedication to American troops during the Vietnam War. Our religious differences makes the persecution even worse. Dega Montagnards came together and fought against them but were forced to end the revolution. Our people were imprisoned, poisoned, and deadly tortured. Today our Christian Dega Montagnard brothers and sisters in the Central Highlands of Vietnam are not permitted to worship God freely. The Vietnamese government continues to monitor every step of our fellow Dega Montagnard people. This puts serious obstacles on the Dega people who cannot follow and worship Jesus Christ our Lord as humble servants are supposed to.
I wanted to write you briefly to express my concern and to ask that you address the ongoing struggle of the Dega Montagnard people, as appropriate. The United States President, in your wisdom and influence, must bring to bear upon Vietnam what is needed to assist the oppressed Christian Montagnard people.
As a United States citizen and a member of the Dega Montagnard American community, I ask that the U.S. use its powers to influence Vietnam to honor human rights by doing the following:
Vietnam must permit and facilitate the identification of the Dega People; to recognize them as a separate people from other ethnic groups with their own language, customs, and religious practices. To take away the identity of the Dega Montagnard people is to detract from the identity of Vietnam as a whole.
Vietnam must allow the free practice of faith and speech for the Dega people and all people of Vietnam. Religious freedom is a right granted by God and should not be regulated by government.
Vietnam must release all individuals imprisoned for the practice of their faith.
Vietnam must allow the international community to help the Dega people to educate themselves, to build schools, churches, and medical clinics -- all of which are institutions that have been neglected by the State of Vietnam when it comes to the Dega people.
Vietnam and the international community must recognize and accept the Dega Montagnard ancestral territory as a separate part from Vietnam.
Thank you again, President Trump, for your vision and concern for the Dega Montagnard people. You are truly practicing the greatest wisdom:
Proverbs 31:8-10
8 Speak out on behalf of the voiceless,
and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.
9 Speak out in order to judge with righteousness
and to defend the needy and the poor. CEB
Most respectfully,
Y-Duen Buondap
Representative of the International Dega Church
President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington D.C. 20500
Dear Honorable President Trump,
First of all, I thank God Almighty for choosing you as the President of the United States of America. God chose a person who follows Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
According to your presidential campaign in 2016, you promised all Christians you would assist us if we came to you for help with our problems. As the Christian leader of the great United States, we request the U.S. intervene to end the persecution of the Christian Dega (Montagnard) people by Vietnam. To this day Vietnam continues to violate human rights.
My name is Y-Duen Buondap, and I am a representative of the International Dega Church. I am an American citizen. I have lived in the United States for about 22 years now. I love the United States of America. I am a lucky person to be living in a country that grants freedom and peace. I want the same for the Dega people in Vietnam who suffer for our Christian religious practices. Because of religious persecution by Vietnam, I was forced to flee my homeland in the Central Highlands. Under God’s wings I survived 17 years in the jungle range of central Vietnam to Cambodia. I encountered many dangerous barriers in my life simply because I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Thanks to the Cambodian government officials, I was rescued by the UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia) which helped keep the peace in the region. I began to recover. By Jesus Christ’s grace, I was provided with protection that made my life today possible. I am so grateful and incredibly lucky to have survived that time period.
I am thankful to the United States Government for accepting the first group of 200 Montagnard FULRO members from the Thailand border in 1986. I came with the second group of about 400 Montagnard men, women and children who came to the U.S. in October 1992. The United States allowed these 2 groups to come to America without such heavy conflict over our immigration. I am grateful for the U.S. welcoming me to this great country that I now call home.
We the Montagnards were forced to defend ourselves against Vietnamese communists, who caused the outbreak of the Vietnam War. The aftermath of the war concluded with the death of over 58,220 American soldiers. After Americans withdrew from Vietnam in 1974, persecution of the predominantly Christian Montagnard people became full-scale genocide. In 1975 the North Vietnamese communists took over South Vietnam. To this day, the Dega Montagnard people are persecuted because of our support of and dedication to American troops during the Vietnam War. Our religious differences makes the persecution even worse. Dega Montagnards came together and fought against them but were forced to end the revolution. Our people were imprisoned, poisoned, and deadly tortured. Today our Christian Dega Montagnard brothers and sisters in the Central Highlands of Vietnam are not permitted to worship God freely. The Vietnamese government continues to monitor every step of our fellow Dega Montagnard people. This puts serious obstacles on the Dega people who cannot follow and worship Jesus Christ our Lord as humble servants are supposed to.
I wanted to write you briefly to express my concern and to ask that you address the ongoing struggle of the Dega Montagnard people, as appropriate. The United States President, in your wisdom and influence, must bring to bear upon Vietnam what is needed to assist the oppressed Christian Montagnard people.
As a United States citizen and a member of the Dega Montagnard American community, I ask that the U.S. use its powers to influence Vietnam to honor human rights by doing the following:
Vietnam must permit and facilitate the identification of the Dega People; to recognize them as a separate people from other ethnic groups with their own language, customs, and religious practices. To take away the identity of the Dega Montagnard people is to detract from the identity of Vietnam as a whole.
Vietnam must allow the free practice of faith and speech for the Dega people and all people of Vietnam. Religious freedom is a right granted by God and should not be regulated by government.
Vietnam must release all individuals imprisoned for the practice of their faith.
Vietnam must allow the international community to help the Dega people to educate themselves, to build schools, churches, and medical clinics -- all of which are institutions that have been neglected by the State of Vietnam when it comes to the Dega people.
Vietnam and the international community must recognize and accept the Dega Montagnard ancestral territory as a separate part from Vietnam.
Thank you again, President Trump, for your vision and concern for the Dega Montagnard people. You are truly practicing the greatest wisdom:
Proverbs 31:8-10
8 Speak out on behalf of the voiceless,
and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.
9 Speak out in order to judge with righteousness
and to defend the needy and the poor. CEB
Most respectfully,
Y-Duen Buondap
Representative of the International Dega Church
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