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U.S. admits Vietnam's advances on religious freedom

16/1/18

The State Department on Thursday 4th Jan 2018 unveiled its list of countries designated as the worst offenders against religious liberty. The countries of Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan were labeled as “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) in the State Department’s report. The 10 countries on the CPC list are unchanged from last year. Vietnam, once again, was not listed in this CPC list, but unfortunately some extreme and hostile organizations and individuals such as the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, praised the inclusion of the 10 CPC counties, but said that several others including Vietnam should have been added. This is so unreasonable and shows a strong prejudice to Vietnam.
Yet Vietnam was previously designated as a CPC, but was taken off the list about a decade ago. In this year report, the State Department admitted that in 2016 Vietnam continued to make progress to improve religious freedom conditions. While the government’s Law on Belief and Religion, approved on November 18, 2016, does not comply fully with international standards, the measure reflects the government’s and National Assembly’s good faith efforts to solicit input from some religious organizations, incorporate guidance from international experts in a relatively transparent fashion, and address myriad religious freedom challenges in the country.
The Vietnamese government has taken notable steps to improve religious freedom conditions in the country. Many individuals and religious communities are able to exercise their religion or beliefs freely, openly, and without fear. In many communities, religious organizations and local officials get along well, with little to no government interference. The country is home to a wide diversity of faiths. The majority of Vietnam’s more than 94 million people practice or identify with Buddhism. Estimates vary widely, but more than six million Vietnamese are believed to be Catholic, more than 1.5 to three million are Hoa Hao Buddhists, approximately one to three million are Caodaist, and approximately one to two million are Protestant. Smaller numbers are Khmer Krom Buddhist, Muslim (including ethnic Cham Muslims), Hindu, Baha’i, Mormon, and Falun Gong, as well as practitioners of local religions or other forms of traditional worship. Recent years, the Vietnamese government granted official national recognition to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and also formally acknowledged the Representative Committee of the LDS Church. Previously, the LDS Church had a temporary representative office. In addition, a handful of clergy reported that the Vietnamese government approved their congregations’ registration requests; the Catholic Institute of Vietnam opened in Ho Chi Minh City, becoming the country’s first-ever university-level institute of theology.
A positive sign is that the law on Belief and Religion will come into effect since date of January 1, 2018 and will help ensure the rights of religious organizations and individual believers, providing equal treatment and fairness to both state-sponsored and independent groups. So those hostile and extreme elements to Vietnam should get rid of their prejudice and have a true look at Vietnam’s religious situation in coming years./.



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All comments [ 2 ]


The free Wind 16/1/18 20:24

No one could deny Vietnam's developments and progress on protecting and promoting religious freedom.

Vietnam Love 16/1/18 22:22

It is simply a fact!

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