The wife of a Melbourne-based human rights activist who went missing in Cambodia has urged the Australian government to pressure authorities there to investigate his disappearance.
Tran Hiep, a 50-year-old Australian-Vietnamese democracy and anti-human trafficking campaigner, has not been heard from since September 18. He was scheduled to return to Bangkok, Thailand, to reunite with his wife, Chloe Dang, following a brief trip to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where he was meeting with human rights defenders. However, Hiep never boarded his flight, leaving his family deeply concerned for his safety.
Speaking from the airport in Bangkok before boarding a flight to Melbourne, Dang pleaded for help. She emphasized that her husband deserves protection and expressed hope that the Australian government would continue to pressure Cambodia to launch an active investigation to locate him. The 36-year-old shared the psychological toll of the 11-day silence, explaining that she remains completely in the dark regarding his whereabouts and well-being.
Hiep, a freelance IT professional who founded the Australian Alliance to Combat Human Trafficking, was traveling alongside Nguyen Duc Thuan, another Vietnamese human rights advocate who holds a Norwegian passport. The pair had traveled to Cambodia to meet with dissident Vietnamese activists to conduct training sessions.
The pro-democracy diaspora political party Viet Tan, of which both Hiep and Thuan are members, stated that the situation is highly concerning. The organization noted that their disappearance is not a standard missing person incident, referencing past cases where Vietnamese dissidents vanished in neighboring countries only to later turn up in custody in Vietnam.
In recent years, Vietnam has intensified its crackdown on dissidents, with more than 55 activists arrested under broad criminal laws in 2025. Civil society organizations and United Nations human rights experts have repeatedly raised alarms over growing cooperation between Vietnamese authorities and neighboring governments targeting human rights advocates.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that consular officials are in contact with Dang and are providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian reported missing in Cambodia. Meanwhile, the families of both missing men have submitted an appeal to the United Nations working group on enforced or involuntary disappearances.
