Dang urges Australian government to pressure Cambodia on husband’s disappearance
Tran Hiep, a 50-year-old Melbourne-based Australian Vietnamese democracy campaigner, has been out of contact with his family since 18 September while in Cambodia, his wife Chloe Dang said. Dang spoke from Bangkok airport before boarding a flight to Melbourne and appealed to the Australian government to push Cambodia to investigate the disappearance, saying she has had no word from her husband in 11 days.
Tran Hiep had traveled to Phnom Penh to meet dissident Vietnamese activists for training, according to a Guardian report. He was due to return to Bangkok to reunite with Dang but never boarded his flight, leaving her increasingly concerned about his safety.
A freelance IT professional, Tran Hiep founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking. His traveling companion was Nguyen Duc Thuan, who is also Vietnamese and holds a Norwegian passport. The pair went to Cambodia to meet with dissident Vietnamese activists for training, according to the Guardian.
Speaking from Bangkok, Dang made an emotional appeal for government action. “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 said. “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.”
Dang, 36, described the psychological toll of the uncertainty. “It’s been 11 days and I’m really in the dark,” she said, choking back tears. “I don’t know where he is and how he’s doing — it’s driving me crazy. Everything is really uncertain.”
According to the Guardian, Vietnam 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 cooperation between Vietnamese authorities and neighboring governments in targeting advocates.
Viet Tan, a pro-democracy diaspora political party, described the pair’s disappearance as concerning given previous cases involving Vietnamese dissidents vanishing in neighboring 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 organization said.
The Australian government confirmed that consular officials were in contact with 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 in Cambodia,” a department spokesperson said on Monday.
The families of the missing men have filed an appeal with the United Nations working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances, according to the Guardian.