MONTAGNARD HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

September 2016

The following is a Statement to address false information, negative propaganda and unkind rhetoric that is often spread on the internet, within the community, or on FACEBOOK from Montagnard leaders, followers, or others who are not informed or are misled for various reasons.

MHRO urges all Montagnard people to avoid gossip, to seek the truth, verify the facts, and to stop negative talk and thinking which does nothing to improve their own lives or the well-being of the Montagnard people in general.

MHRO does not support or condone violence with any group or individual that advocates violence, whether this is regarding Montagnard people or any citizen of the world.

MHRO believes in equality and social justice for all, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or gender.

The Montagnard Human Rights Organization (MHRO) is a non-profit corporation organized in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, in 1998. The MHRO is a membership organization founded by leaders of the former Montagnard Resistance Forces. Rong Nay, who was the Assistant Commander of the Montagnard Resistance Forces, also known as FULRO, in the jungle of Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand from the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 until 1985, is the current Executive Director.

MHRO VISION

The MHRO vision is peace and freedom for all Montagnard Indigenous Peoples, including self-determination for the Montagnard Indigenous Peoples in Vietnam who are the original inhabitants of Vietnam’s Central Highlands, who desire to live in peace on their ancestral lands, governed by their own legal framework according to the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

MHRO is committed to action which promotes peaceful and non-violent ways to improve the human rights, well-being and the future of the Montagnard people living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam; to cooperate fully with the U.S. government, the United Nations, the international community, other indigenous nations and peoples, and to urge the Government of Vietnam to respect the principles of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including the right to self-determination.

Since 1998, under the direction of Executive Director, Rong Nay, MHRO has served and empowered the Montagnard Community in North Carolina, USA. MHRO has also empowered and assisted the Montagnard people living in the Montagnard ancestral homeland in the Central Highlands of present day Vietnam.

One mission of MHRO is to unite and bring all Montagnard people living in the United States of America, and other countries in the world, (Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Denmark and Sweden) where Montagnards have resettled, as one people with one voice, to empower and protect the Montagnard people living in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and to advocate on behalf of those asylum seekers and refugees who have fled persecution in Vietnam.

ACTIVITIES IN THE UNITED STATES

1. Refugees and asylum seekers

Since 2003, MHRO received two federal grants from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), and has assisted 262 families in filing Family Reunification petitions, 1,896 people in applying for their permanent resident-Green Card, and 117 in the U.S. naturalization process.   As a result, over 1,192 Montagnards have received permanent residency status, and 185 families with over 948 children have been reunited.

Since 2003, MHRO, as a community organization, has offered the Montagnard community effective and meaningful services, primarily because we speak our own languages, and understand our culture and our community. In the past, MHRO has also helped with social services such as translation, acculturation, hospital visits, cultural preservation and documentation, employment outreach and referrals, and often any emergency that arises. MHRO has provided these services in the past so that Montagnard families can come to US and be reunited with their families and rebuild their new lives in North Carolina.

Although MHRO no longer offers immigration and family reunification services as of 2011, the record of MHRO’s services show clear and positive results for hundreds of clients. MHRO not only served Montagnards, but also provided services to other immigration and refugee clients from many countries including Burma, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Eritrea, Burundi, Congo, and also Vietnam. Under the grants from ORR, MHRO operated two offices, one in Raleigh and one in Greensboro, NC.

All MHRO staff worked very hard since the beginning of the organization, and when the grants ended, the staff continued to work tirelessly without salary or compensation as volunteers for several years to continue serving the Montagnard community and to advocate on behalf of Montagnard s in Vietnam. Our heart and values are based on Christian faith, love and action.

MHRO continues to assist Montagnard asylum seekers and refugees through continuing refugee policy advocacy with UNHCR, the U.S. government and Congress, and through humanitarian organizations such as BPSOS and the Montagnard Assistance Project, MAP.

2. Activities in the US government

1. Since 1998 to present MHRO has peacefully advocated with the United States government, with the U.S. Department of State, the White House, the U.S. Congress and MHRO has participated in several U.S. Congressional Hearings to stop human rights violations and Religious Persecution in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and to promote policies with the government of Vietnam which improve the living conditions for the Montagnard people.

ACTIVITIES IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

1. MHRO is peacefully advocating to bringing to the attention of the United Nations, leaders of the free world, all democratic countries and human rights organizations, the persecution of the Montagnard people in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

2. MHRO has participated in world Indigenous Peoples Conferences in New York, USA, and Geneva, Switzerland to educate the UN and the international community about the plight and the rights of the Montagnard Indigenous Peoples in Vietnam.

1. On September 24, 2012, the Montagnard Human Rights Organization, Khmer-Krom and Cham organizations joined together as Indigenous Peoples in Vietnam to form; the Council of Indigenous Peoples in Today’s Vietnam (CIPTVN). . Each group and nation keeps its own organization’s goals and vision.

For further information, please feel free to contact Mr. Rong Nay, President,

Montagnard Human Rights Organization

Post Office Box 5366. Cary, NC 27512

Tel: 919-586-2918 or 919-469-8866 or 919-889-4012

rongnay@mhro.org or Website: www.mhro.org.