Human Rights Organization Claims Vietnam Seized Australian and Norwegian Activists in Cambodia

A pro‑democracy organization alleges that Vietnamese authorities seized two of its members—an Australian and a Norwegian national—in Cambodia and transported them into Vietnam.

Vietnamese officials acknowledged the arrest of Tran Hiep and Nguyen Duc Thuan, stating that the two entered the country with falsified documents and were allegedly planning terrorist actions.

Authorities added that the detainees confessed to belonging to Viet Tan, a group designated as terrorist by Vietnam.

Viet Tan denounced the arrest as a blatant fabrication meant to hide the reality that its members were seized in Cambodia and forcibly transported to Vietnam.

The organization, which maintains members both inside Vietnam and overseas, said the two were traveling in Cambodia’s Kaoh Andaet border district when they disappeared on 18 September and have not been heard from since.

Tran’s wife, Chloe Dang, informed Australian media that her husband had been meeting pro‑democracy activists in Cambodia and had no plans to go to Vietnam.

She said he was supposed to meet her in Bangkok to catch a flight back to Australia, but he never arrived.

“He always understood the risks involved in human‑rights work, but we never imagined something like this could occur,” she told the ABC.

According to a Vietnamese state‑run media outlet, Tran and Nguyen were apprehended alongside a third individual at the Tay Ninh border province on 18 September.

“The three admitted to being members of the terrorist group Viet Tan and said they used forged documents to enter Vietnam illegally with the intent of conducting terrorist and sabotage operations,” the report stated.

On Monday they were charged with belonging to a terrorist organization, while investigators continued their work “to clarify the suspects’ criminal actions and process them according to the law,” the statement added.

“A state that orchestrates the abduction of people abroad and forcibly brings them into its territory commits a grave act of transnational repression,” Viet Tan declared. “Such actions breach Cambodia’s sovereignty and contravene core principles of international law.”

The Viet Tan statement made no reference to the third individual, identified by authorities as Thai Cong Truong Son.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed that consular assistance is being extended to Tran’s family.

“That is what Australian governments do for their citizens, and we will remain in direct contact with the family,” he said.

“The Vietnamese authorities’ acknowledgment that they detained these activists shows once more that Hanoi is arguably the most aggressive practitioner of transnational repression in Southeast Asia today,” said Phil Robertson, Director of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates, in a statement.

“This latest action is an unacceptable outrage.”

Vietnamese and Cambodian officials have been approached for comment.

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