<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As feared, since the Law on Belief and Religion came into effect in January 2018, non-registered religious groups have become increasingly vulnerable. The law only acknowledges groups that have registered and obtained recognition by the State and provides no legal framework for the activities of non-recognized religious groups. It incorporates broad language from the Criminal Code to criminalize religious activities deemed to \u201cundermine national security\u201d, \u201charm social ethics,\u201d \u201cseparate people following different beliefs and religions\u201d<\/em> etc. Under new administrative decrees, religious groups that engage in activities without obtaining the registration certificate stipulated in the new law risk fines of up to 30 million VNDs (US$ 1,300), and religious cadres have been deployed nationwide to monitor and sanction those who \u201cviolate regulations on religion or belief\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDoes Vietnam really believe that a summer camp for young children and youths is a threat to its national security?\u201d <\/em><\/strong>said V\u00f5 V\u0103n \u00c1i, VCHR President and international spokesman of the UBCV. \u201cFreedom of religion or belief is a universal right. Mandatory registration is a violation of this right. Vietnam should cease harassment and intimidation of the BYM, UBCV and all other non-registered religious groups and allow them to conduct their legitimate religious activities in peace\u201d. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The BYM\u2019s \u201cD\u0169ng – Hi\u1ebfu – H\u1ea1nh\u201d camp was held on 31st<\/sup> July 2018 at the UBCV\u2019s Long Quang Pagoda in Hue. In the past, three separate camps were held for children of different ages, but because of increasing Police harassments and threats against the children, the BYM decided to combine them into one event. The camps are held on the festival of the Bodhisattva of Compassion (Qu\u00e1n Th\u1ebf \u00c2m), whilst monks and nuns are engaged in their summer retreat. They are a favourite meeting place for young UBCV Buddhists who come from all over the central province and work hard to prepare the educational activities and cultural events. The summer camp is a regular target of Police repression, but this year the Police bans were particularly harsh.<\/p>\n Several days before the event, Police visited homes of Buddhists in H\u01b0\u01a1ng Th\u1ee7y, Phong \u0110i\u1ec1n, Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110i\u1ec1n <\/strong>and T\u1ea3 Ng\u1ea1n N\u1ed9i Th\u00e0nh, Hu\u1ebf, <\/strong>threatening parents with reprisals if they allowed their children to attend the camp.<\/p>\n As early as 4.30am on 31 July<\/strong>, BYM sections reported Police harassments and interception all over the province. In L\u0103ng C\u00f4<\/strong>, local officials, Police and plain-clothed security agents arrived at dawn to prevent children boarding a bus and forced them to disband. A second bus managed to escape by a different route, but was later also intercepted by Police. At 5.00am in<\/strong> N\u01b0\u1edbc Ng\u1ecdt<\/strong> district, Police surrounded the local UBCV temple, threatening and frightening the children, and forcing their parents to take them home. BYM leaders strongly protested, but Police pushed them aside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n In An B\u1eb1ng,<\/strong> Police blocked a bus full of children for several hours near Tr\u01b0\u1eddng H\u00e0 Bridge on the pretext of a traffic incident, although other vehicles were allowed to cross. BYM team leader V\u0103n Ti\u1ebfn Nh\u1ecb<\/strong> tried to persuade Police to let them pass, but was finally forced to turn back. Alerted of the incident, a second bus from An B\u1eb1ng took a detour through Qu\u1ea3ng Tr\u1ecb and arrived in Hu\u1ebf by late morning. BYM sections in An D\u01b0\u01a1ng<\/strong>, H\u00f2a \u0110a \u0110\u00f4ng <\/strong>in Ph\u00fa Vang district suffered the same fate. Their leaders Nguy\u1ec5n V\u0103n \u0110\u00ea<\/strong> and L\u00ea V\u0103n Th\u1ecd<\/strong> were forced to turn back and prohibited from attending the \u201creactionary Long Quang Pagoda\u201d.<\/p>\n In face of these arbitrary harassments, parents and friends of BYM members organized an impromptu<\/em> transport network, using bicycles, motorcycles and private cars to bring their children to the camp.\u00a0 Many of the older members escaped Police surveillance by rapidly changing out of their uniforms and boarding buses to Hu\u1ebf. Despite hardships, a total of 360 young BYM members reached the camp. BYM leaders noted that this figure reflects the increase in Police repression compared with last year, when 435 members were present.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On 1st<\/sup> August,<\/strong> Police visited the homes of camp organizers Mai Ti\u1ebfn S\u01a1n <\/strong>and Nguy\u1ec5n \u0110\u1ee9c Khoa, <\/strong>aggressively insulting them and warning them to cut off all contacts with the UBCV and BYM. Many other BYM leaders reported they had suffered similar threats. The Head of the BYM L\u00ea C\u00f4ng C\u1ea7u<\/strong> sent a letter of protest to the municipal authorities in Hu\u1ebf. He called on VCHR to alert the international community and condemn Police repression of such peaceful, legitimate activities.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n BYM members visit UBCV Patriarch Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9<\/strong>:<\/p>\n On 3rd<\/sup> August 2018, Most Venerable Th\u00edch Ch\u00ed Vi\u00ean,<\/strong> UBCV representative for Khanh H\u00f2a province, led a group of 40 BYM children and elders to visit the UBCV Patriarch Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 at the Thanh Minh Zen Monastery in Saigon. The group travelled 500 kilometres overnight by bus from Nha Trang, arriving in Saigon at 3.30am the next day. This is the first time such a large a delegation has been able to visit the UBCV Patriarch since he was placed under house arrest, and Th\u00edch Qu\u1ea3ng \u0110\u1ed9 was very moved by the visit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n —————-<\/p>\n The Buddhist Youth Movement (Gia \u0110\u00ecnh Ph\u1eadt t\u1eed Vi\u1ec7t Nam),<\/em> is an unofficial educational organization based on the Scouts movement. Founded in 1943 and affiliated to the UBCV, it has a membership of 300,000 members nationwide in Vietnam. Their motto is \u201cBi \u2013 Tr\u00ed \u2013 D\u0169ng\u201d \u2013 Compassion, Wisdom and Courage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" PARIS, 12 August 2018 (VCHR – IBIB) \u2013 Police and local authorities in Hue harassed, intimidated and intercepted members of the Buddhist Youth Movement (BYM – Gia \u0110\u00ecnh Ph\u1eadt t\u1eed Vi\u1ec7t Nam) as they organized the movement\u2019s annual Summer Camp in Hu\u1ebf. This new crackdown on the BYM raises serious concerns about the rights …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":434,"featured_media":39759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,137,113,98,64],"tags":[364,223,665,666,667,668,366,669,670,671,288,672,673],"class_list":["post-39762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-ibib","category-latest-posts","category-news","category-press-release","category-vchr","tag-bym","tag-law-on-religion","tag-le-cong-cau-2","tag-le-van-tho-2","tag-mai-tien-son-2","tag-nguyen-duc-khoa-2","tag-nguyen-van-de","tag-summer-camp-2","tag-thich-chi-vien-2","tag-thich-quang-do-2","tag-ubcv-2","tag-van-tien-nhi-2","tag-youth-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/434"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/queme.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Entrance](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-0811a.jpg\")
![\"BYM](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-0811b.jpg\")
![\"BYM](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-0811c.jpg\")
![\"UBCV](\"http:\/\/queme.org\/\/app\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2018-0811d.jpg\")