Source: www.jubileecampaign.org
Date: February 16, 2020
With the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) vote occurring on February 10, Boat People SOS (BPSOS), Jubilee Campaign USA, and Jubilee Campaign Netherlands teamed up to contact and inform European Parliament Members regarding the statelessness and persecution of Hmong and Montagnard Christians in Vietnam.
According to the European Commission, the European Union is one of the largest benefactors of Vietnam, its foreign direct investment reaching approximately 6 billion USD in 2017. Moreover, the EU exports advanced technological and pharmaceutical products to Vietnam. The EVFTA and IPA would therefore extraordinarily benefit Vietnam's economy.
The time could not have been more opportune: In order for Vietnam to receive the benefits of such agreements, the country should first guarantee improvement of human rights and safeguarding Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Therefore, BPSOS, Jubilee Campaign USA, and Jubilee Campaign Netherlands started to lobby Members of European Parliament, asking if they could postpone the vote until Vietnam has "demonstrated its good faith with concrete actions."
A letter was drafted by Jubilee Campaign USA and Jubilee Campaign Netherlands and circulated to the European Parliament Members, asking them to consider postponing the ratification. On February 12, both the EVFTA and IPA were ratified.
This does not mean our efforts were in vain. Less than 60% of MEPs voted in favor of the agreements, 27% voted against them, and the rest abstaining. This 27% can be considered allies in furthering the pressure placed on Vietnam to meet all human rights and religious freedom commitments moving forward. We hope that we can address the remaining individuals who refrained from voting and encourage them to place pressure on Vietnam as well.
In fact, the effects of our information campaign do not stop there. Recently, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Anh Quang announced in a letter to the EU Committee on International Trade that the government has released two prisoners of conscience, human rights blogger Tran Thi Nga and activist Ngo Hao. Additionally, the government has permitted an EU Delegation to visit four other prisoners: one of which is a Christian pastor and one is a Hoa Hao Buddhist.
In light of these recent successes, we are determined to continue advocating for the realization of religious freedom for Hmong and Montagnard Christians in Vietnam. Our next step is to release a sign-on letter to the International Religious Freedom Roundtable addressed to the European Parliament, informing them of the historical background of the communities, as well as the various human rights violations and restrictions on religious freedom that they face, including, but not limited to: prolonged detention, expropriation, harassment, targeting of specific churches, and forced conversions.