The team set up by the authorities is called the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team. It includes Tam Hop commune police, People’s Committee of Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district police, and Border Guard Police 551. This team took the information of the 33 Hmong believers before bringing them to an open trial before the people in the community.

During the trial, they presented an image of Buddha and forced the Hmong Christians to abandon their religion and worship the Buddha statue instead.

Mr. Dzung, the representative of the Interdisciplinary Inspection Team, announced that in Vietnam there is no Protestant religion, and if one does not renounce Protestantism and convert to Buddhism, they will be expelled from Vietnam.

The Hmong people are stuck in a difficult position, because in such cases, the government will not intervene and they are left to defend for themselves.

In 2018, more than 100 Hmong believers in Yen Bai province and Lao Cai province were expelled from their homeland by the government. They had to find their own way to flee to nearby Thailand, where they have the prospect of applying for refugee status with the Bangkok-based United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The plight of the Hmong Christians continues as we step into 2019. Let us continue to lift them up in prayer to show our solidarity as one body with them.

For interviews, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]