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An Australian human rights defender who met with Vietnamese activists has been missing in Cambodia for 10 days as his wife pleads for his safe return.
But he never boarded his flight and has not communicated with his wife since September 18, leaving her worried for his safety.
“My family and I are really worried about his safety, and we just only want to know where he is and what happened to him,” Dang told AAP from Bangkok airport before boarding a flight to Melbourne. “My husband deserves protection, and I really hope the Australian government will continue to put pressure on Cambodia to do an investigation to find out where he is right now.
” Hiep, a freelance IT professional who founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking, was travelling with another human rights activist Nguyen Duc Thuan, who is also Vietnamese and holds a Norwegian passport. Australian-Vietnamese democracy activist Tran Hiep, 50, has been reported missing in Cambodia.in recent years has ramped up its crackdown on dissidents, with more than 55 activists arrested under broad criminal laws in 2025.
Civil society groups and United Nations human rights experts have repeatedly warned of growing co-operation between Vietnamese authorities and neighbouring governments targeting advocates. Viet Tan, a pro-democracy diaspora political party, has described the pair’s disappearance as concerning given previous cases involving Vietnamese dissidents vanishing in neighbouring countries and subsequently appearing in custody in Vietnam.
“Their disappearance is not an ordinary ‘missing person’ incident. Both men are long-time human rights advocates and Viet Tan members,” the organisation said.
“It’s been 11 days and I’m really in the dark,” she said, choking back tears. “Everything is really uncertain. ”confirmed consular officials were in contact with Ms Dang but declined to comment further.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian reported missing inThe families of the missing men have filed an appeal with the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
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