Last month, 26-year old Laotian activist Khieo Lapchanh disappeared on his way to his apartment in a Thai province just outside Bangkok. He didn't show up for his registration interview with the United Nations Refugee Agency in Bangkok the next day, and hasn't been heard from since, according to a human rights group tracking his case.
Days later, Australian democracy campaigner Tran Hiep, who was in Cambodia to meet with other activists of Vietnamese origin, similarly disappeared. Tran Hiep was due to meet his wife in Bangkok but never boarded his flight. This week, Vietnamese officials confirmed his arrest and that of the two other activists who were with him.
"My husband entered Cambodia legally, and now he's gone missing and it appears [he's] in a Vietnamese prison somewhere," said Chloe Dang, Hiep's wife. "How can the Vietnamese government abduct someone on another country's land?"
Their cases underscore the precarious landscape for activists across Asia, who are increasingly vulnerable to transnational repression – hunted down by authoritarian governments even across international borders. Human rights groups have been warning of a "swap market" of repression in Southeast Asia, where governments in the region work together to intimidate, arrest, extradite and punish critics and refugees.
"Everyone has to be looking over their shoulder all the time," said Phil Robertson, director of Bangkok-based Asia Human Rights & Labour Advocates, who has tracked and advocated for victims of transnational repression for almost two decades.
In recent years, Cambodian opposition leaders say they have been surveilled and jailed in Thailand, once a refuge for asylum seekers. Laotian refugees in the country – verified and registered by the United Nations – have gone missing or been found dead.
Viet Tan, a pro-democracy group composed of members of the Vietnamese diaspora, published a report in September that documented 20 cases where Vietnamese authorities pursued critics and activists outside its own borders. These include blogger Duong Van Thai, who in April 2023 disappeared off the streets of Bangkok before showing up in detention in Vietnam. Thai, who was a U.N.-registered refugee seeking asylum, has since been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
"You'd expect there would be some larger outcry because what we're talking about is violation of refugee rights [and] of state sovereignty," said Robertson. But countries in the region have been "muted."
"It seems to almost be like: if you do something in my country… later I'll expect a favor from you," a trade where dissidents are mutually suppressed, he added.
Thailand's Ministry of Information and a spokesman for the Cambodian government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Manushya Foundation, a human rights group that has previously assisted other Laotian asylum seekers, reported Khieo Lapchanh's disappearance to the Thai police.
The Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, in a statement to NPR, said it does not comment on individual cases. It added that "states have the primary responsibility to provide protection and safety to persons on their territory, including refugees and asylum seekers and people whose lives could be at risk if they were returned."
Hiep, now 50, had moved to Australia more than three decades ago, said Dang, his wife. He lived in Melbourne, where he founded an advocacy organization focused on combating human trafficking of Vietnamese girls and women. The freelance IT professional was also passionate about free speech, Dang said, and helped those in the Vietnamese diaspora improve their digital security against the authoritarian state. They were texting about commonplace topics – issues with their fridge, preparing for Hiep's niece's birthday party – when he stopped replying on Sept. 18.
Viet Tan, the pro-democracy group, said Hiep was one of their members. So was Nguyen Duc Thuan, who disappeared from Cambodia along with Hiep on the same day. Thuan holds a Norwegian passport.
Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security said in a statement this week that it had arrested Hiep, Thuan and a third man, Thai Cong Truong Son, for trying to "cross illegally" from Cambodia into Vietnam. They've accused the three of terrorism and forging their identity documents. The Vietnamese government has designated Viet Tan as a "terrorist group," a charge the group denies.
Authorities have not specified where they are held and their families say they have been provided no information. The activists have not been granted consular access.
Dang has called for the Australian government to fight for Hiep's freedom, given he's a citizen of their country. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese President To Lam met in Canberra last month, pledging to deepen their partnership on issues like defense and trade. Albanese, in comments to the media this week, said his government was providing consular assistance and engaging directly with the family.
