Dega Central Highlands Organization Dega Central Highlands Organization
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Our organizations

Exile Reference 16 views 3 min read Back

A short directory of the organizations that Dega people in exile have founded, or that work closely with us: what each is, where it is, and when it began. We list them so that readers know who is who. Listing an organization here is not an endorsement of everything it says, and none of them speaks for us.

A green, white and red flag with an elephant inside an open gold ring
A flag associated with Save the Montagnard People, dated 1986. Drawing: Marko de Haeck, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Advocacy

Montagnard Foundation, Inc. / DEGAR Foundation
Founded in 1990 by Kok Ksor in Spartanburg, South Carolina; US tax-exempt since 1992. Human-rights advocacy at the United Nations and with foreign governments. Represented the Degar-Montagnards in UNPO from 2003 to 2016. degarfoundation.org
Montagnard Human Rights Organization (MHRO)
Founded in 1998 in Raleigh, North Carolina, by former leaders of the resistance. Its executive director, Rong Nay, was assistant commander of FULRO in the forest from 1975 to 1985. Accredited by the US Board of Immigration Appeals since 2008 to help with immigration cases. mhro.org
Montagnards Stand for Justice (MSFJ)
Founded in Bangkok by Dega refugees — by its own account in July 2019; some reports give 2017. Its founders include Y Phic Hdok and Y Quynh Bđăp. Documents rights abuses and brings them to the UN. Designated a “terrorist organization” by Vietnam on March 6, 2024, together with the Montagnard Support Group, Inc.; its founders deny advocating violence. msfjustice.org
Boat People SOS (BPSOS)
A Vietnamese-American refugee and rights organization that has worked on highland asylum cases in Thailand and on statelessness in the highlands (see Stateless in our own country).

Community

Montagnard Association of North Carolina
Founded in 1986 as the Montagnard Dega Association (MDA); based in Greensboro. Serves families in Greensboro, Raleigh, Charlotte and New Bern; its youth organization, the Montagnard American Organization, teaches weaving, music and dance (see Weaving and dress). The MDA’s 1987 flag is described in The Dega flags. montagnardda.org
Save the Montagnard People, Inc. (STMP)
Founded in North Carolina in 1986 by American Special Forces veterans, first as the General Coactive Montagnard Association. Helped resettle about 250 highlanders in 1986 and about 450 in 1993. Now run by volunteers. montagnards.org
Special Forces Association Chapter 78, “Forgotten Warriors”
A veterans’ program that supports highland communities, including school and orphanage projects in Kon Tum. specialforces78.com

Churches

Much of Dega life in the United States is organized through churches. Among those registered as organizations are the First Montagnard Alliance Church of Raleigh (also known as the Dega C&MA Church of Raleigh), part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and the United Montagnard Christian Church in Greensboro. There are many more congregations, of several denominations, in North Carolina and elsewhere. See North Carolina and The church they closed.

Elsewhere

We have not been able to verify Dega organizations in Canada, France or elsewhere in Europe, though there are Dega families in all of them (see The wider diaspora). If you run or belong to one, please tell us, and we will add it once we can confirm the details.

A caution

Vietnam has named several diaspora organizations as terrorist or “reactionary” groups. Being listed by Vietnam is not evidence that an organization has done anything wrong. But it does mean that contact with these organizations can put people inside the country at risk. If you are in Vietnam, read Reporting safely before contacting anyone.

See also: Our veterans in America.

Sources

Compiled September 2026. Organizations change names, addresses and leaders. If something here is out of date, please tell us.

organizationsdirectorymontagnard foundationdegar foundationmhromontagnard human rights organizationmontagnard association of north carolinamontagnard dega associationsave the montagnard peoplemontagnards stand for justicemsfjbpsoschurchesspecial forcesnorth carolinasouth carolinathailand
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