Norwegian Missing in Cambodia: – Very Worried

Thuan Duc Nguyen (52) travelled to Cambodia to meet human rights activists. According to his family, he has now been missing for a week.

• Fathia Mahmoud Farah

Updated Friday 25 September at 22:22

• Thuan Duc Nguyen, human rights activist, has been missing in Cambodia for a week.
• He disappeared together with an Australian citizen.
• The family fears politically motivated abduction.
• Nguyen is diabetic and needs daily insulin.
• Viet Tan, the organisation he belongs to, is designated as a terrorist organisation in Vietnam.

According to his family, Nguyen disappeared together with an Australian citizen who also has Vietnamese background.

At home in Norway, Nguyen's wife, children, parents and siblings await answers.

The family initially tried to shield his mother from the disappearance. She lost another son four years ago.

– We chose not to tell our mother about the situation at first, because we wanted to spare her and not make her unnecessarily worried. After we told her on Wednesday evening, she hasn't been able to stop crying, says his brother Tony Thong Duc Nguyen to VG.

– She is constantly worried and lives with a fear that the worst may have happened.

Was to meet activists

Both Nguyen and the Australian man are members of Viet Tan, a Vietnamese opposition organisation.

The family fears that he may have been subjected to politically motivated abduction or deprivation of liberty.

The fear is based among other things on previous cases where Vietnamese regime critics have disappeared in other countries.

Human Rights Watch has documented several cases where Vietnamese regime critics have disappeared in other countries and later turned up in Vietnamese custody.

There is currently nothing to suggest that Vietnamese authorities are behind the disappearance.

The family has been informed that the Norwegian consulate in Cambodia is cooperating with the embassy in Bangkok on the case.

– The family is grateful that the authorities and police are following up on the case, says the spokesperson.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Thursday to VG that a Norwegian citizen is missing, but will not comment further on the matter due to considerations of confidentiality and privacy.

Designated as a terrorist organisation

Nguyen's family came to Norway as part of the wave of Vietnamese boat refugees after the Vietnam War.

He has been a human rights activist for years with particular engagement for Vietnam.

According to Viet Tan, he has for over 20 years travelled in Southeast Asia and worked with Vietnamese human rights activists.

Vietnamese authorities have classified Viet Tan as a terrorist organisation and banned the organisation in the country, according to HRW.

– Our members are not allowed to operate in Vietnam. They are imprisoned if they are discovered, says the spokesperson.

HRW for its part describes Viet Tan as an opposition party that operates legally in among other places Australia, and has criticised Vietnamese authorities' designation of the organisation as terrorist.

Dependent on insulin

The family says that Nguyen has diabetes and is dependent on insulin every day.

– It can become very critical for him if he doesn't get insulin, says the family's spokesperson.

They now want publicity around the disappearance in the hope that it can help find out what has happened.

Last sign of life

According to the family's spokesperson, surveillance footage shows the two leaving the place they were staying in Phnom Penh on 17 September. This is the last known observation of them.

The next day, Nguyen sent a message to his wife. She replied, but received no further response.

On 19 September, the two were scheduled to fly back to Bangkok. According to the family, the airline has stated that they never boarded.

Fathia Mahmoud Farah

Journalist