Tag: Savannakhet

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

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

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

Laos: five Christians arrested in southern village

March 28, 2012 Laos Churches, Laos, Savannakhet, Vientiane

Officials in a village in southern Laos on Sunday (March 25) arrested and detained five Christians during worship and charged them with leading a religious movement without official approval, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The five Christians from Palansai district were attending a . . . Read More

Officials force Christians to recant for burial

December 30, 2011 Laos Burial, Laos, Savannakhet

Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in . . . Read More

Lao officials: give up your Christian faith or face eviction

December 23, 2011 Laos Laos, Savannakhet

Nearly 50 Christians await their fate today after officials in Natoo village, southern Laos, on Wednesday (Dec. 21) summoned four of their leaders and warned that they would evict the entire church “within 24 hours” if they refused to give up their faith. Officials told the Christians they had forfeited . . . Read More

Lao officials arrest eight Christian leaders

December 19, 2011 Laos Laos, Savannakhet

Police early this morning traveled to Boukham village in Laos’ Savannakhet Province to meet with officials about the arrest on Friday (Dec. 16) of eight Christian leaders who had gathered some 200 church members for a Christmas celebration, an advocacy group reported today. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom . . . Read More

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