A church pastor and five other Christians have been arrested by their village chief in a crackdown on religious freedom.
Pastor Mum, as he is locally known in the village in central Laos, was praying and preparing for a Sunday service with members from his church when the new village chief, the deputy chief and other security men invaded his home, reports Morning Star News.
The Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) said that such events are becoming increasingly common in the Southeast Asian country, which borders Vietnam and Thailand, despite the country’s constitution protecting "the right to believe or not believe" in religion.
The five believers who were taken to Xaibouathong District prison with Mr Mum were three women, aged 23, 28 and 50, and two men, aged 24 and 40, according to Sirikoon Prasertsee, director of HRWLRF.
Pastor Mum put his faith in Christ in 2019 after experiencing God’s healing and then established a church that worshipped freely in his home. A new village chief, identified only as Lang, took office in May, she said.
The U.S. Department of State’s 2023 report on international religious freedom, which has only just been released, states that religious leaders in Laos confirmed that even though authorities in urban areas and in some districts had a strong understanding of laws governing religious activities, improper restrictions on religious freedom remained prevalent in rural areas.
“Reports continued of local authorities, especially in isolated villages, discriminating against and sometimes expelling followers of minority religious groups, particularly Christians, for refusing to renounce their faith,” the report states.
Lao Evangelical Church leaders said local authorities pressured 79 Christian families from Xaybuathong, Yommalath and Bualapha districts in Khammouane Province to sign documents renouncing their faith last year, according to the State Department report.
The report also stated that in October, Sa Mouay District officials reportedly forced eight or more families from three villages and destroyed their homes following their conversion to Christianity.
