Vietnam: Government control on religious activities has been tightened

“Two new regulations – Decree No. 95 and Directive 24 - make it amply clear that the Communist leadership of Vietnam is taking a leaf out of China’ book in the way national and regime security is dominating policy goals,” says World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller.

“Decree No. 95, which will be effective from 30 March 2024, replaces other decrees and aims at clarifying and simplifying measures to shut down religious organizations and education institutions as well as curbing local and international fundraising (Morning Star News, 28 February 2024). The decree contains 33 articles spread over 98 pages and includes the requirement for religious organizations and institutions to immediately report any changes in location and personnel of both local and foreign congregations. Thus it is even stricter than the decrees it replaces. Major terms, such as ‘serious violation’, are not defined, giving authorities wide margins for interpretation. It remains to be seen how the rules will be applied in practice, but it is fair to say that control on religion has been tightened.”

“Directive 24 on ‘ensuring national security in the context of comprehensive and deep international integration’ was issued back in July 2023 as an internal directive, but has only now been published (Project 88, 29 February 2024). In a comprehensive report entitled ‘Vietnam’s leaders declare war on human rights as a matter of official policy’, Vietnamese human rights organization Project 88 analyzed this directive and found that although religious minorities are not a main focus,  they are affected by this regulation as well (Project 88, 1 March 2024). The regulations main aim is to restrict civil society activity and the implementation of human rights, including those the Vietnamese government has agreed to by signing international agreements.”

Project 88 states in this report:
Finally, under Directive 24, discrimination against ethnic and religious minority groups will continue, if not increase. The directive makes a number of statements about ethnicity. In one section of the directive, Vietnamese authorities are ordered to take action ‘to prevent the establishment of labor organizations on the basis of ethnicity and religion’ (p.4). In addition, the directive calls for the creation of a national cultural value system, which would assuredly elevate Kinh cultural values at the expense of the cultures of ethnic minority groups in the country. This is particularly troubling given the history of efforts by the Vietnamese government to erase minority cultures and assimilate members of ethnic minority groups into the majority Kinh culture.
Thomas Muller adds: “In a very concrete step, Vietnam listed two Hmong political organizations based in the USA as terrorist groups (Reuters, 6 March 2024). This shows that the predominantly Protestant Hmong remain fully in the authorities’ focus. The year 2023 showed that Hmong churches are often understood by the authorities to be following political aims instead of simply exercising their right of freedom of religion (see WWR’s Full Country Dossier Vietnam – January 2024, Trends 3, p.21).