The Bangkok Criminal Court ordered the extradition of a convicted political activist to Vietnam on Monday. Human rights groups, criticizing the move as “transnational repression”, warned that he likely faces threats to his life in Vietnam, which would render the extradition illegal under the principle of non-refoulement.
Y Quynh Bdap is currently imprisoned in Thailand and has sought asylum at the Canadian embassy before his detention. The activist was pressed with terrorist charges in absentia and is facing 10 years in jail. The verdict was based on his presence at the Dak Lak riots, in which nine people were killed, including four police officers and two government officials. Subsequently, the government admitted partial responsibility for the escalation of the situation. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom called the conviction “spurious” on X (formerly Twitter.)
The UN special rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterror Ben Saul issued an amicus curiae brief to the Thai court, concluding that a deportation of Y Quynh Bdap would violate international law. In the brief, he starts by restating that the terrorist charges should not be abused to criminalize civil society or human rights activists. He goes on to argue that the extradition would violate the principle of non-refoulement under international human rights law and international refugee law, as provided by Article 33 of the Refugee Convention. This principle, grounded in refugee law, prohibits the expulsion and return of persons to a state where their life or freedom is threatened. This principle applies to Y Quynh Bdap as he falls under the international definition of a refugee, there is no need for classification as such by the Thai authorities, according to Saul.
Rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, have been critical of Vietnam’s crackdown on dissent, as well as ethnic minorities and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam.
According to Bdap’s lawyer, the extradition order may not be applied through a diplomatic decision by the Thai government.
