Od Sayavong
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Human rights ACTIVIST
Od Sayavong | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 January 1985 |
| Status | Missing for 6 years, 5 months and 17 days |
| Died | c. 26 August 2019 (aged 34) |
| Known for | Victim of enforced disappearance Human rights ACTIVIST |
Od Sayavong (Lao: ອັອດ ໄຊຍະວົງ; born 16 January 1985)[1] is a Lao human rights and pro-democracy activist who disappeared on 26 August 2019 whilst seeking refuge in Thailand, in what has widely been reported as being an enforced disappearance.[2][3] Od has not been seen since.
Od was born and raised in Savannakhet, Laos. He has been a pro-democracy activist since at least 2015 and was a prominent critic of the Lao government within the country before seeking refuge in Thailand, becoming officially recognised as a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[2][3][4] At the time of his disappearance, Od was living in Bangkok and awaiting resettlement in a third country.[4][5]
While in Thailand, Od joined Free Lao, an organisation of Lao migrant workers as well as exiled activists, based in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.[5] As part of his activism with Free Lao, Od took part in peaceful protests outside the Lao embassy and United Nations headquarters in Bangkok. He also led human rights workshops with Laotians living throughout Thailand.[3]
In March 2019, Od met with Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, in Bangkok, whilst wearing a shirt with an image of the flag of the Kingdom of Laos, an image which is outlawed in Laos itself. On 16 June 2019, Od took part in a public protest calling for an international investigation into the 2012 disappearance of Sombath Somphone, as well as justice for Laotians impacted by government land grabs, dam collapses and intolerance of human rights activism.[6][7] Shortly before his disappearance, he posted a video online critical of the Lao government during an ASEAN meeting in Bangkok.[7]