Australian Activist Tran Hiep Missing in Cambodia
· World · The Guardian, ABC News (AU)
Tran Hiep, a 50-year-old Australian Vietnamese human rights activist, has been missing since 18 September after travelling to Phnom Penh for a meeting with fellow campaigners. His wife, Chloe Dang, reported that he failed to board his scheduled flight to Bangkok and has not been heard from since. Hiep, who founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking, was accompanied by Norwegian passport holder Nguyen Duc Thuan during the trip. The pro-democracy group Viet Tan has expressed concern, noting that previous disappearances of Vietnamese dissidents in neighbouring countries have resulted in them appearing in custody in Vietnam. The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the family.
Why it matters
The disappearance of a dual-national activist in Cambodia raises concerns about the safety of human rights defenders operating in Southeast Asia amid reports of increased transnational crackdowns on dissidents.
Read the original report — The Guardian
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