Five Catholics and six Protestants who were jailed in Vietnam have gone missing from police custody. Some of the group had been incarcerated since 2011, and family and friends of the detained raised alarm after contact was lost.

Among the group are Montagnard Protestants Siu Hlom, Ro Mah Pla, Rmah Bloanh and Rmah Khil, who were accused of ‘undermining national unity policy’ and have been charged under Articles 117 and 331 of the Vietnamese Penal Code, which criminalise ‘distributing propaganda against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’ and ‘abusing democratic freedoms to infringe the interests of the State’ respectively.

Hlom was sentenced to 12 years in prison in April 2011, Pla was sentenced to nine years in March 2014, and Bloanh and Khil were sentenced to eight and nine years respectively in September 2014. All were also sentenced to three to five years’ probation, and all should have been released at this point.

Also missing is Sung A Khua, a Hmong Christian who was sentenced to two years and two months in prison for attending unsanctioned church services on 2 January 2019. Prior to his arrest, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reported his family was expelled from their village and their home was destroyed for holding an illegal gathering in their home which doubled as a church. Khua’s custodial sentence should have ended in March 2021, but he was not released as scheduled and he has remained in custody ever since.

The other Protestant, Y Hriam Kpa, was arrested in July 2015 for refusing to close his church, which was not legally registered with the government.

Five Catholics - named as Runh, A Kuin, A Tik, Run and Dinh Kuh – have also gone missing. Two of the men were accused of ‘undermining national unity policy’ in October 2015 for taking part in church services that were not sanctioned by the government.  Both were also charged under Articles 117 and 331 of the Penal Code; it is unclear what the others were charged with.

CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘The government of Vietnam is anathematic in its opposition to the idea of freedom of religion or belief. It has shown repeatedly that it has no intention of allowing religious groups to practice their faith freely. The authorities view religious minorities as a threat to their fragile control of the country and are willing to take drastic and illegal action to silence them. We call on the Vietnamese government to immediately provide evidence of the safety and wellbeing of the 11 prisoners and to release them without condition. We also call on members of the international community to hold Vietnamese authorities accountable for their sustained and flagrant attacks on the rights of religious minorities.’