Vietnamese policemen armed with batons crush protest against drainage project

Wielding batons and beating villagers, Vietnamese police dispersed dozens of members of the Ede ethnic group who were trying to interfere with a drainage project they fear will discharge sewage into a lake on which they depend, sources told Radio Free Asia.

Three villagers were hospitalized and 12 were arrested, they said.

“They beat us, injuring seven people, three of whom had to be hospitalized for head, mouth, ear and shoulder injuries,” said a protester who requested anonymity for security reasons.

The Ea M’ta lake in the southern province of Dak Lak will be the end point of a proposed rainwater drainage system project by the province’s Cu Kuin district, the provincial and district governments said.

But residents living nearby fear that in addition to rainwater, the project could also divert wastewater into the lake, which could harm the environment and flood surrounding areas.

Although a local government task force reviewed the project and said no major damage to the ecosystem or water resources would occur, the protesters do not trust the review, they said.

The confrontation with the police, armed with batons and shields, took place on Thursday and Friday.

Video filmed by a witness shows several dozen policemen confronting a similar number of residents, mostly women, who carry the Vietnamese flag. They mostly spoke in the Ede language, but sometimes they also spoke Vietnamese.

“We are determined to prevent the District People’s Committee from discharging sewage into the lake,” someone said in the video. “We can sacrifice our lives for this. We will resolutely protect (the lake).”

The protester who spoke to RFA said police pushed a woman who was two months pregnant and broke the shoulder of another protester who passed out soon after.

Police also knocked down a man and repeatedly kicked him in the head until his ears and mouth began to bleed.

The three people who were hospitalized returned home on Monday, according to the source. All those who were arrested were released after signing a document pledging not to return to the protest or face jail time.

Radio Free Asia attempted to contact Bui Hong Quy, chief of staff of the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Cu Kuin District People’s Committee to verify the source’s account, but received no response.

According to state media, the drainage system project with a total investment of nearly 36.7 billion dong (1.53 million US dollars) was approved by the Dak Lak People’s Committee in 2019. The nearly 4-kilometre drainage channel (2.5 miles) would start in the Cu Kuin district. Military Command and end up in the lake.

The Dak Lak People’s Committee working group reviewed the impacts of the project on the environment, safety and living conditions. The review indicated that the project would not adversely affect the environment, land, climate and water sources that serve residents living in the surrounding areas, state media said.

However, residents living near the lake said the review did not reflect reality.

And Quynh Buon Dap, a religious and human rights activist living in Thailand as a refugee, said residents were concerned that the survey was not exhaustive and did not include areas that might be affected by the project in the future.

On April 20, the authorities declared that they were determined to complete the final component of the project and that all activities that impeded its implementation would be considered illegal.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.