Tag: Vietnam

Vietnam jails Christian rights defender for 15 years

April 5, 2018 Vietnam Hanoi, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Christian human rights' lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and his assistant were released and sent to Germany last week. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Christian human rights lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was jailed for 15 years today, 5 April, for activities “aimed at overthrowing the people’s administration”, as Reuters reported. His wife, Vu Minh Khanh, said she was “very disappointed” but that Dai will “continue to fight and will appeal the verdict”. Five other . . . Read More

Persecuted Christians celebrate Easter with mixed emotions

April 3, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Aleppo, Bashar Warda, Catholics, Easter, Erbil, Gaza, Hanoi, Hmong, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Israel, Jakarta, Jerusalem, Ludhiana, Maluku, Marawi, Middle East, Mindanao, Minorities, Philippines, Pope Francis, Prince Charles, Southeast Asia, Syria, Vietnam

Flag of Syria is waving as sign of victory over the destroyed heavily damaged city of Aleppo. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Easter this year was a time of mixed emotions for the Christians who live under pressure for their faith. While political and religious leaders called for peace, reconciliation and brotherhood, Christians in countries like Syria and the Philippines continued to face violence and its consequences. Below, World Watch Monitor gives . . . Read More

Contrasting freedoms for Vietnam’s Christians

March 27, 2018 Vietnam Evangelical Church of Vietnam, Hmong, Ho Chi Minh City, Maria Tran Thi Nga, Religion Law, Vietnam

The growth of Christianity in Vietnam has been charted by World Magazine, which says religious freedoms enjoyed by those living in cities are in stark contrast to the country’s rural areas. Catholicism has a centuries-old history in Vietnam, but Protestant churches only sprang up last century, the Christian publication notes, . . . Read More

‘Vietnam targeting religious followers, whose sole wish is to live their faith in peace’

March 22, 2018 Ahmed Shaheed, Central Highlands, Hmong, Vietnam

The Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR) has expressed “deep concern” over an attack earlier this month on 24 Christians from the Hmong people group, who had recently converted to the Christian faith. The group had been warned by local leaders to renounce their faith or be forced to . . . Read More

Hmong Christians hospitalised after mob attack in Vietnam’s northwest

March 15, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Hmong, Human rights, Vietnam

Four Vietnamese Christian families – 24 people in all – have been attacked by a mob led by the village chief, local sources have revealed to World Watch Monitor. Four people were hospitalised for eight days after the 1 March attack, with injuries to their heads and arms. All four families are . . . Read More

Vietnam: 2017 was ‘worst year’ for dissidents

March 8, 2018 Vietnam Maria Tran Thi Nga, Vietnam

Vietnam’s communist government was criticised again this week over its treatment of dissidents. In its latest report, published on 5 March, the Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience (FVPOC) said the 43 people arrested in 2017 for challenging the state was more than double the combined number detained in 2016 (11) . . . Read More

New report slams Vietnam’s human-rights record

March 1, 2018 Vietnam Maria Tran Thi Nga, Vietnam

A new report paints an abysmal picture of Vietnam’s human-rights record, documenting “one of the worst crack-downs in recent years against rights defenders, bloggers and religious followers”. Published by the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), the report says “arrests and harsh convictions of dissidents are multiplying with frightening . . . Read More

Vietnam: Catholic activist’s harsh sentence condemned by US

February 13, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Nguyen Van Oai, Vietnam

Two Catholic environmental activists have been jailed in Vietnam for helping hundreds of fishermen to sue a Taiwanese steel plant for polluting coastal waters, reports UCA News. The US State Department has condemned the sentences of 14 years for Hoang Duc Binh, 35, and two years for fellow activist Nguyen . . . Read More

Vietnam town bans Catholic Mass under new religion law

February 1, 2018 Vietnam Communism, Religion Law, Vietnam

Notre Dame Catholic Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A local authority in Vietnam has used the country’s new religion law to declare a Catholic Mass illegal, reports Asia News. The ruling was made by the People’s Committee of Quỳnh Ngọc, a municipality in the north-central province of Nghệ An, after a Catholic priest failed to register the Mass ahead . . . Read More

Christian teenager ‘at risk of state persecution’ if deported to Vietnam

January 23, 2018 Vietnam Vietnam

More than 55,000 people have signed a petition to allow a teenage victim of human trafficking to stay in the UK. The young man, known by the pseudonym of ‘Stephen’, will appeal to the UK government on 5 February to have his rejected asylum application overturned. Stephen was trafficked from . . . Read More

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