Published on: 26 April 2023
On April 8, Evangelist Y. Krech Bya, a member of the Central Highlands’ Evangelical Church of Christ, was arrested by police at his home in the Lak Dak Province. Authorities are set to charge him with “undermining the great unity policy” which, under Article 116 of Vietnam’s Penal Code, carries a potential prison term of up to 15 years.
Central Highlands’ Evangelical Church of Christ in Vietnam, Christmas, 2022
On the same day, authorities announced that Evangelical pastor A. Ga will be tried in absentia for the same crime. A. Ga, who founded the Evangelical Church of Christ, immigrated to the USA in 2018 after a period of living as a refugee in Thailand. Now, living in Raleigh, North Carolina, and a permanent resident of the United States, Pastor A. Ga spends his time advocating for the religious freedom of his countrymen.
Bya and A. Ga are both indigenous peoples from the Central Highlands of Vietnam, from a group known as the Montagnard people (Mountain-dwellers). Like many Montagnard churches in Vietnam, the Evangelical Church of Christ is unregistered. Because of this, government officials have gone to great lengths to harass and arrest members, viewing their evangelistic activity as “illegal” and a threat to Vietnam’s national security.
In a letter addressed to U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, over 70 international religious organizations and leading human rights experts called on the Biden administration to recognize and assist these religious minorities in Vietnam that are being persecuted by the state because of their faith.
“The Vietnamese government has repeatedly accused the Evangelical Church of Christ in the Central Highlands of being “reactionary [and] anti-State” through “tricks to deceive believers”…when, “in fact, it is they who divide our religious affairs in the Central Highlands of Vietnam!” stated Pastor A. Ga from the USA. “We have done nothing to divide or disunite the nation.”
Back in February, church leaders in southern Vietnam invited US diplomats from Ho Chi Minh City to their homes to discuss the status of religious freedom for the ethnic minority communities. The diplomatic delegation was blocked from entering the homes of Y. Krech Bya and another member of the Evangelical Church of Christ and asked to leave by the authorities.
Though the Vietnamese constitution states that citizens have the right to religious freedom, laws allow officials to restrict religious practices, like holding services in people’s homes or performing certain rituals, if the church or religious organization is unregistered and/or if doing so is deemed in the interest of national security.
