Democratic Voice of Vietnam

Press Release – March 7, 2019

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Today, BPSOS publishes a report entitled “Homeless as a form of punishment for H’Mong and Central Highlands Christians in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam”.

This report presents the information that BPSOS collected through a study – conducted over more than a year – of measures by some provincial governments in Vietnam to expel these Christians from their villages and to terminate their household registries and denying them the right to be issued birth certificates and other personal identification/status credentials.

As a result, they are severely restricted in their travel and access to public benefits such as education and healthcare. They are not granted farm land and cannot own property, open bank accounts, or use public libraries. They cannot hold formal jobs and cannot apply for a trade license.  Couples without personal credentials are not granted marriage certificates, and their children are often denied birth certificates and cannot go to school. They also cannot sue someone who treat them unfairly. Although born and raised in their country, they have been rendered “nationless” there.

BPSOS has gathered information on over 2,000 households, i.e., about 10,000 individuals, who have been punished in this manner for being Protestant.

“Such treatment is equivalent to forced renunciation of faith,” Dr. Nguyen Dinh Thang, Executive Director and President of BPSOS, said. “This not only violates international conventions on human rights to which Vietnam is a party, but also violates Vietnamese law.”

The report also contains practical recommendations for the Vietnamese government to address the state of homelessness of the affected communities and to suspend its policy that has resulted in pushing more Hmong and Central Highlands Christians into statelessness.

The report (in English) is stored at:

http://dvov.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stateless-Hmong-Montagnard-Christians-03-06-19.pdf

Its appendices are at: http://dvov.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Stateless-Hmong-Montagnard-Christians-Appendices-1-8-03-06-19.pdf

The content of the report will be presented at a forum sponsored by the Jubilee Campaign on March 13 at the UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. For more information, see: http://dvov.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Flyer-Mar-13-side-event-in-Palais-des-Nations.pdf.

With the support of BPSOS and the Jubilee Campaign, a delegation consisting of Hmongs from the United States and France will speak on the statelessness issue with the UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues next Friday.

Late last year, BPSOS made 3 videos on Hmong statelessness, which can be viewed at:

https://www.vncrp.org/hmong-statelessness-project