By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C, (ANS) -- The Washington, DC, based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org, has received new information concerning the expulsion of 96 Christian families totaling about 600 people from their village in Lao Cai Province to Binh Thuan Province about 800 miles to the south.
Families had to leave all of their belongings behind, except their clothing, and were forced to walk through the jungle for a day until they could arrange to rent buses for the remaining part of the journey.
Once they reached Binh Thuan Province they found there was insufficient land to settle and grow food, so only 22 of the families stayed, and the others are still seeking a place to live in peace.
The twenty-two families that settled in Binh Thuan Province have no wells and must drink water from the streams. Many suffer from diarrhea and will die if pure drinking water cannot be found.
In addition, many suffer from malaria, as their mosquito netting had to be left behind when they were forced to relocate. This forced relocation amounts to genocide by the Vietnamese government against their own people.
Forced relocations have occurred in the recent past in Vietnam, but nothing of this magnitude. However, the Vietnamese government made a statement several years ago of their intent to “wipe out Christianity” in this particular province, and they seem intent in carrying through with their evil vow.
The Vietnamese government routinely harasses, beats, imprisons, and even murders Christians for practicing their faith, while insisting that such events do not occur.
The current expulsion of 96 Christian families from their village is yet another example of the deceitful nature of the Vietnamese government, and why Vietnam should be designated as “a country of particular concern” by the United State Commission of International Religious Freedom, and the Department of State.
ICC is a Washington, DC-based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC delivers humanitarian aid, trains and supports persecuted pastors, raises awareness in the US Church regarding the problem of persecution, and is an advocate for the persecuted on Capitol Hill and the State Department.
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For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441, or by email at: icc@persecution.org.
International Christian Concern
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW #941
Washington DC 20006-1846
www.persecution.org / Email: icc@persecution.org