WORLD WATCH LIST

Vietnam

#25

The government monitors Christian activity, exercising a high level of pressure on all Christians.

“When a person or a family in the village decides to follow Christ, they can easily evangelise the whole village and the villagers are likely to believe as well. This is why when someone becomes a believer, he will be kicked out of the village, because the local government is afraid that he will share Jesus to everyone.”

– Nguyen Van Quan is a Vietnamese-born pastor and Open Doors partner

Country
Profile

Region: Asia
Sources of persecution: Communist And Post-Communist Oppression
Population: 98,954,000
Christian population: 9,401,000
Religions: Buddhism
Leader: President Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Score: 70

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What’s Life Like For Christians?

The communist government monitors Christian activity and exercises a high level of pressure on all Christians. Converts from a Buddhist or Ethnic-animist background face the most severe persecution, not only from the authorities, but also from families, friends, and neighbours.

When they convert to Christianity, their homes are sometimes destroyed, and they are then forced to leave their villages. Yet their numbers are reported to be growing.

What has changed this year?

While the situation for Christians in Vietnam mostly remains unchanged, it is getting increasingly difficult to receive information from the rural Central Highland provinces, where most of the H`mong Christians live.

The local and national authorities are going to great lengths to hinder any reports coming out from there. The situation for these Christians is certainly under-reported.