Statement from Kok Ksor, President of the Montagnard Foundation, Inc. The Degar Church and its people who have been commonly known under the French colonial term “Montagnard” state clearly that they do not wish to overthrow the Vietnamese government and nor do they seek to establish an independent state. We reiterate that even if we so desired such it is impossible for a population of less than a million and without armed forces to overthrow a government with a population of over 80 million who has also hundreds of thousands of fully armed soldiers at its command. We state the Degar people who are house church Christians, traditional animists or Catholics living throughout the Central Highland region are indigenous tribal people and we cannot understand how anyone could believe such allegations perpetrated by the Vietnamese authoritarian government. Statement published on "Peace and Freedom, Polcy and World Issues" blog by John E. Carey.   more »