On March 15, 2017, Võ Văn Ái of the democratic Vietnamese non-profit organization, Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), spoke about Vietnam’s restrictive “Law on Belief and Religion” at the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. The “Law on Belief and Religion” requires religious groups to register with the government, which according to Ái, forces Vietnamese citizens to either “accept to register and submit to the control of the one-Party state, or [if] they refuse to register, suffer brutal repression.” He reported that there has been an increase in religious persecution since Vietnam passed the law last November.

The crackdown, which began before this repressive law goes into full effect in January 2018, indicates the government feels emboldened to consolidate their control through brutality. The recent crackdown has included the abduction and assault of former political prisoner and Protestant Pastor, Nguyễn Trung Tôn, as well as several other Vietnamese activists and religious groups. For additional information about the law, please see the World Movement’s previous coverage here.