119 Christians have been subjected to enforcement measures in Vietnam’s Central Highlands in the first six months of this year.
Authorities in the region’s Gia Lai Province say the Christians, from the Montagnard community have been prosecuted for alleged involvement with organisations connected to religious and ethnic minority self-determination.
State authorities have initiated two criminal cases against four defendants for their alleged involvement with the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (FULRO) and ‘De Ga Protestantism’. Activities associated with these organisations are seen by state authorities as attempts to promote separatism in the Central Highlands.
CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas said: ‘Vietnam is increasingly becoming one of the most repressive states when it comes to persecuting and prosecuting religious groups. Branding religious communities as De Ga or FULRO is an unabashed attempt to politicise and demonise lawful religious activity – we are not fooled. The Vietnamese government must be held to account for its ongoing assault on the right to freedom of religion or belief and other fundamental freedoms.’
International Christian Concern said in June 2026 that the Communist Vietnamese government has been "waging a long campaign" against Montagnard Christian ethnic minorities in the Central Highlands who refuse to join state-controlled and sanctioned churches.
(Picture shows Vietnam's Minister of Public Security General Luong Tam Quang in Gia Lai Province on 19 July 2026.)