Tag: Laos

Laos: Law on associations ‘skewed to target religious minorities’

July 9, 2018 Laos Churches, Human rights, Laos, Religious freedom, Southeast Asia

Buddhists meeting in their temple in Laos are often exempt from meeting requirements under the Decree of Association. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A law that came into effect in Laos last November “has already been skewed to target religious minorities, especially in rural areas”, according to Mission Network News (MNN). The Decree on Associations requires all groups, whether religious or otherwise, to acquire government approval for holding meetings and other activities. It . . . Read More

Laos government agrees to religious freedom education

March 23, 2018 Laos Buddhist nationalism, Human rights, Laos, Luang Prabang, Phongsaly, Religious freedom, Savannakhet, Southeast Asia

Vat That Khao, the Reclining Buddha, in Vientiane. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The government in the Southeast Asian nation of Laos has agreed to sponsor religious-freedom education in the country. The US-based Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) will roll out a series of seminars focusing on “religious freedom as a human right, Lao government policy on religious activity and encouraging dialogue between . . . Read More

More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others – Pew Research Center

October 5, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Apostasy, Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Central Asia, China, Comoros, Converts, Cuba, India, Iran, Islamic extremism, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Middle East, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Over 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 . . . Read More

ASEAN nations told to ‘end blasphemy laws that inspire violence’

October 4, 2017 ASEAN, Blasphemy, Borneo, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Religious freedom, Sharia, Singapore, Southeast Asia, Sunni, Thailand, USA, Vietnam

A right for all - USCIRF report on ASEAN nations

On its 50th anniversary, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should repeal blasphemy laws, release prisoners of conscience and strengthen interfaith relationships, says the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). In a new report, USCIRF highlights regional “arrests, detentions, and imprisonments based on religious belief, practice, or activities, . . . Read More

Laos pastor murdered ‘in cold blood’

September 17, 2015 Laos Laos, Luang Prabang, Protestants

Christians in Laos are treating the killing of a Protestant pastor as a “cold-blooded murder” based on his profession. “Local Christians ruled out robbery as a possible motivation for this ruthless and cold-blooded murder,” reports Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). “They believe that his death was the . . . Read More

Laos Christians arrested for attending church

October 6, 2014 Laos Laos, Savannakhet, Southeast Asia

UPDATE: Six of the seven Christians arrested at the end of September have been released from the detention center in the village of Boukham, in the province of Savannakhet on October 3 . Pastor Sompong Supatto and six other Christians were arrested for ‘exercising religious freedom in gathering for religious worship’ . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Three Lao, two Thai Christians arrested in Laos

June 25, 2012 Laos Converts, Laos, Luang Namtha, Proselytism, Savannakhet

Lao officials arrested two Lao and two Thai Christians in Luang Namtha Province earlier this month, seizing them from a private residence in Long district, according to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Officials also arrested a pastor in Luang Namtha and dismissed two civil servants in Savannakhet . . . Read More

Lao police arrest pastor for proselytism

June 11, 2012 Laos Converts, Laos, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Proselytism, Savannakhet

A 53-year-old Lao pastor remains behind bars today after Lao police arrested him on Wednesday (June 6) for encouraging others to convert to Christianity, a spokesman from the group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) confirmed to World Watch Monitor this morning. The arrest of Asa, identified by . . . Read More

Lao officials confiscate church buildings

April 6, 2012 Laos Churches, Laos, Luang Namtha, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet

Lao officials on Thursday (April 5) confiscated and sealed a church building in southern Laos after holding a two-day seminar warning against religious belief, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Besides sealing the church building in Khamnonsung village, Saybuly district, they also warned that . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye