Tag: Hmong

Thailand called to release detained Vietnamese Montagnard refugees

September 3, 2018 Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Children, Hmong, Minorities, Montagnards, Refugees, Religious freedom, Thailand, Vietnam

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

Thailand should release the group of ethnic minority refugees and asylum seekers, mostly Christians, arrested last week during a crackdown just outside the capital Bangkok, rights groups say. Most of the 181 refugees detained are Montagnards, an indigenous group from Vietnam who face “harsh persecution if they are returned to . . . 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

The ‘remarkable religious transformation’ of Vietnam’s Hmong

November 16, 2017 Vietnam Central Highlands, Converts, Hmong, Religion Law, Vietnam

Christianity started spreading among the Hmong in the highlands of northwest and central Vietnam in the late 1980s through a Hmong-language Christian radio program broadcast from Manila and has led to “a remarkable religious transformation … in the past three decades”, according to academic Seb Rumsby, writing for The Diplomat. Among . . . Read More

Two steps back?

March 2, 2013 Vietnam Catholics, Central Highlands, Communism, Dien Bien, Hanoi, Hmong, Hoa Binh, Minorities, Nguyen Van Dai, Protestants, Religion Law, Religious freedom, Vietnam

On Jan. 1, Vietnam updated its rules for enforcing its highest law regarding religion. Known as the Decree on Religion 92/2012 ND-CP, or simply ND-92, the new decree is meant to clarify rules written in 2005. On close inspection, ND-92 does appear to clarify one thing: Vietnam’s intent to control . . . Read More

Vietnamese officials destroy two new church buildings

June 27, 2012 Vietnam Churches, Dien Bien, Evangelical Church of Vietnam, Hmong, Vietnam

Vietnamese officials in Muong Cha district, Dien Bien Province, destroyed two new church buildings of ethnic minority Hmong Christians this month and threatened to tear down a third. The Ho He Church, erected in April by the unregistered Vietnam Good News Mission, was demolished on June 17. The Phan Ho . . . Read More

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