Tag: Vietnam

Vietnam: Catholic activist sent back to prison in new crackdown

September 26, 2017 Vietnam Communism, Nguyen Van Oai, Vietnam

Vietnam has sentenced a Catholic former prisoner of conscience to five years in prison for resisting arrest and violating probation terms, reports UCA News (UCAN). Nguyen Van Oai, 36, was arrested in January by plain clothes police and accused of breaking probation terms after leaving his locality for a fishing . . . Read More

‘Under no circumstances’ should Cambodia repatriate Montagnards to Vietnam

September 13, 2017 Vietnam Cambodia, Human rights, Montagnards, Vietnam

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is urging Cambodia not to carry out its threat to imminently return a group of ethnic Montagnards to Vietnam, saying “they would face severe persecution on political and religious grounds”. HRW also criticised Cambodia’s Interior Ministry for denying the asylum claims of 29 Montagnards and failing . . . Read More

Cambodia to repatriate 13 Montagnards after failed asylum bids

August 10, 2017 Vietnam Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Central Highlands, Communism, Montagnards, Vietnam

Thirteen Montagnards are being sent back to Vietnam, after they were refused asylum in Cambodia. Thousands of Montagnards have fled their country to seek asylum in neighbouring countries since 2001, citing land expropriation and religious persecution. Many of the indigenous group, from Vietnam’s highlands, are Christians. The 13 were part of . . . Read More

Vietnam arrests four more human rights activists

August 2, 2017 Vietnam Maria Tran Thi Nga, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, Nguyen Van Dai, Vietnam

Four more activists were arrested in Vietnam on Sunday (30 July), the latest in a string of arrests seen as part of a general crackdown on freedom of expression, assembly and religion. Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton, Nguyen Bac Truyen, head of an association of former religious and political prisoners, activist . . . Read More

Vietnam pastor freed early from prison in return for exile to US

July 31, 2017 Vietnam Central Highlands, Nguyen Cong Chinh, USA, Vietnam

Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh was released early in a deal that saw him leave the country. (Photo: USCIRF)

Vietnam has released a Lutheran pastor and deported him to the United States, reports UCA News. Nguyen Cong Chinh, was serving an 11-year prison sentence for “undermining national solidarity” through religious activities with ethnic groups in the country’s Central Highlands. He was also a director of the Vietnam-U.S. Lutheran Alliance . . . Read More

Vietnam government accused of stealing monks’ land

July 20, 2017 Vietnam Catholics, Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh, Vietnam

Land belonging to Benedictine monks in central Vietnam has been appropriated by the government, according to Catholic news agency UCAN. Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam, said the government has sold Thien An monastery’s land to local and foreign enterprises to help attract investment. At . . . Read More

Vietnam Catholic blogger ‘will continue his struggle’ after expulsion to France

June 27, 2017 Vietnam Catholics, Communism, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Vietnam has now expelled to France the Catholic activist Peter Pham Minh Hoang, citing his violation of laws and that he had “undermined national security,” reports UCANews. Hoang, who arrived in Paris on 25 June after being arrested and detained two days earlier, wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to his . . . Read More

US Commission urges Trump administration to prioritise international religious freedom

May 18, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Abune Antonios, Andrew Brunson, Central African Republic, China, Donald Trump, Eritrea, Eritrean Orthodox Church, Iran, Mike Pence, Myanmar, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Religious freedom, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

An influential US government commission that monitors religious freedom around the world is urging President Donald Trump and his new administration to take concrete steps to make advocacy of universal religious rights a priority in American foreign policy. “Our foreign policy should not simply be about US self-interest – you know, . . . Read More

No solution for Vietnam’s persecuted Montagnard-people

April 5, 2017 Vietnam Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Montagnards, Refugees, Religious freedom, Thailand, UN, Vietnam

The Montagnard-people are persecuted because of their faith but getting asylum in neighbouring countries is difficult. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The number of Montagnard-people fleeing their native Vietnam, because of persecution of their Christian faith, is growing, reports Al Jazeera. They initially end up in surrounding nations like Cambodia and Thailand, where they face a stateless future as their refugee status is not recognized. Thailand and Cambodia are not signatories . . . Read More

Accounts surface of persecution of Christians in Dunkirk migrants’ camp

March 15, 2017 Afghanistan, Calais, Converts, Dunkirk, France, Grande-Synthe, Iran, Iraq, La Linière, Migrants, Refugees, Shiraz, Syria, Vietnam

Outside the windswept port of Dunkirk, in northern France, sits a migrants’ camp called La Linière. Home to around 1,400 people, it lies 25 miles from Calais and the now-demolished camp that became known as the “Jungle”. La Linière opened a year ago, with the collaboration of Médicins sans Frontières . . . Read More

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