Eleven Vietnamese Christians in police custody have been reported missing.
Faithwire, quoting the International Christian Concern (ICC), a religious persecution watchdog group, reports that the Christians who were arrested between 2011 and 2016 had been sentenced to a collective 90 years and eight months in prison.
The missing people who were accused of “undermining national unity policy” comprise six Protestants and five Catholics.
Two others were accused of refusing to deny Christianity.
Some of the missing Christians are Degar Protestants Ro Mah Pla, Siu Hlom, Rmah Bloanh, and Rmah Khil.
“Degar” is a term the Vietnamese government uses to refer to non-state-sanctioned Protestant Montaguards living in Central Highlands. They claim to face persecution for their religious convictions.
The Catholics are Runh, A. Kuin, A. Tik, Run, and Dinh Kuh. They face charges for involvement in the Ha Mon Catholic Church, which the government has not approved.
“The missing Christian prisoners speak to a larger problem within the Vietnamese legal framework for the nation’s minorities, like Degar Protestants and Ha Mon Catholics,” ICC said in a statement.
In 2018, Vietnam enacted the Law on Belief and Religion, which requires the faithful to register with the government before practising their beliefs.
Persecution of Christians in the country has been on the rise.
Morning Star News also reports that harassment, threats, and severe brutality have spread an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear over Vietnam’s estimated 400,000 ethnic minority Christians, collectively called Montagnards, in Central Highlands.
In March, the battered body of Y Bum Bya, a member of the Evangelical Church of Christ of the Western Highlands (ECCWH), was found hanging from a tree with a rope around his neck.
Police had first arrested and beaten Bya in August 2023 and subsequently charged him with trying to “destroy the great national unity” under Article 116 of the criminal code.
In April, Y Krec Bya, a pastor of his congregation, was also arrested and held for about one year for investigation before his trial began on March 28. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, followed by five years of house arrest.
In its 2024 report released in January, Open Doors, a Christian watchdog group, rated Vietnam as one of the worst countries in the world where it is difficult to follow Jesus Christ. The group ranked the country 6th among 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted.
Also in May, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Vietnam and 16 other countries be classified as a “country of particular concern” for violating religious freedom.