Thiện Trường wrote this Religion Bulletin in Vietnamese and published it on August 15, 2025, in Luật Khoa Magazine.
Notable religious events in July 2025:
- Brother of Thích Minh Tuệ Arrested in Vietnam;
- Government Jails Independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist Follower;
- HRW: Vietnamese Government Uses Law to Restrict Religious Freedom;
- Tuyên Quang: Authorities Successfully Eradicate San Sư Khẻ Tọ Sect;
- U.K. Places Vietnam Among Ten Priority Countries in Global Religious Freedom Strategy.
On July 2, 2025, authorities in Gia Lai Province placed Lê Anh Tuấn, the elder brother of Thích Minh Tuệ, a Buddhist monk, in four months of temporary detention on charges of “abuse of power or position while performing official duties,” as stipulated in Article 356 of the 2015 Penal Code.
According to the authorities, between March 2022 and March 2024, while serving as chairman, general director, and party cell secretary of Ia Châm Coffee Co., Tuấn committed multiple land management violations, including building unauthorized structures on nearly 100 square meters of farmland and encroaching on more than 400 square meters of public land. Ia Châm Coffee is a subsidiary of the Vietnam National Coffee Corp. (Vinacafe).
However, the total damages resulting from these violations have not been disclosed. According to Tiền Phongnewspaper, Tuấn caused the state a loss of 1 billion đồng ($38,000) by allowing relatives to occupy public land and build unauthorized structures.
Meanwhile, Người Lao Động newspaper reported that Tuấn leased public land for personal gain, earning more than 200 million đồng illegally.
Earlier, in May 2025, authorities had disciplined Tuấn by removing him from all party positions for violating party regulations regarding prohibited conduct.
Although no concrete evidence has been presented, the arrest of Tuấn has raised suspicions that it may be connected to his younger brother, Thích Minh Tuệ.
From late March to early April 2024, images of Thích Minh Tuệ, clad in multicolored robes, walking across the provinces of the country, spread widely in public discourse and on social media.
Amid the wave of public admiration and a growing number of followers accompanying the monk, both the authorities and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha issued statements asserting that Thích Minh Tuệ was not a recognized Buddhist monk. Furthermore, the Sangha accused many individuals of exploiting his image on social media to distort monastic life, while urging followers to prevent acts that could defame the Sangha.
Currently, Thích Minh Tuệ is on his pilgrimage in India and has not made any public comments regarding the arrest.
Government Jails Independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist Follower
On July 9, 2025, authorities in An Giang Province sentenced Hồ Trọng Phúc, a youth under 18 years old and a follower of independent Hòa Hảo Buddhism, to one year in prison on charges of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state and the lawful rights and interests of organizations,” under Article 331 of the 2015 Penal Code.
According to the indictment, around August 2024, Phúc, under the direction of two other independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist practitioners, Võ Văn Thanh Liêm and Võ Thị Thu Ba (Liêm’s niece), both residing at Quang Minh Tự temple, shared and disseminated writings that allegedly distorted and slandered the party and state policies.
Liêm and Thu Ba were not present at the trial.
It is reported that the authorities had repeatedly ordered Phúc to cease religious practice under the independent Hòa Hảo tradition at Quang Minh Tự and instead participate in activities at pagodas and temples managed by the state-recognized Hòa Hảo Buddhist Temple. Phúc, however, refused to comply.
This is not the first time the authorities have taken repressive action against independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist followers practicing at Quang Minh Tự.
In June 2024, the authorities in An Giang Province cracked down on independent Hòa Hảo Buddhists who had gathered at Quang Minh Tự to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the founding of the religion by Đức Huỳnh Giáo Chủ, the founder of Hòa Hảo Buddhism.
In 2012, during the anniversary celebration of Đức Huỳnh Giáo Chủ’s establishment of the faith held at Quang Minh Pagoda, the authorities had likewise brazenly suppressed independent Hòa Hảo followers attending the ceremony.
Since 1975, the authorities have consistently carried out repressive measures against Hòa Hảo Buddhists. The state only recognizes a single Hòa Hảo Buddhist organization that it created. Followers of independent Hòa Hảo Buddhist groups outside state control have continuously faced repression and discrimination.
Human Rights Watch (HRW): Vietnamese Government Uses Law to Restrict Religious Freedom
On July 7, 2025, HRW submitted a report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee during Việt Nam’s periodic review under the ICCPR at its 144th session. The report highlighted several concerning details regarding religious freedom in the country.
The main points of the report include:
Strict state control and systematic repression of religion:
The Vietnamese government restricts religious freedom through laws, registration requirements, surveillance, harassment, and administrative interference. Only state-recognized religious organizations are allowed to operate. As of April 2025, the government had approved 43 organizations belonging to 16 religions. By 2021, around 140 religious groups with nearly 1 million followers remained unrecognized.
Crackdown on unregistered or independent groups:
Religious communities not recognized by the state—such as Dega Protestants, Hà Mòn, Falun Gong, and San Sư Khẻ Tọ—are often labeled as “heretical.” Followers of independent religions frequently face surveillance, harassment, house arrest, travel bans, forced renunciation of faith, arbitrary detention, torture, interrogation, and imprisonment.
Typical cases of repression include:
In March 2025, Rơ Châm Grông was sentenced to seven years in prison in Gia Lai Province for ties to Dega Protestantism. In March 2024, Y Krec Bya was sentenced to 13 years in Đắk Lắk for “undermining national solidarity” under Article 116 of the Penal Code.
Others, including Y Thing Nie and Y Po Mlo (Đắk Lắk), were also prosecuted under Article 116. In March 2025, the authorities in Mèo Vạc District, Hà Giang Province, announced they had eradicated the San Sư Khẻ Tọ “heresy,” forcing 2,818 people from 715 households to abandon the religion. In September 2024, authorities in Cư Suê Commune, Đắk Lắk Province, forced 85 people to return to state-recognized religious activities.
Obstruction of religious practice and international engagement:
In July 2024, police blocked three religious activists (two Cao Đài and one Buddhist) from traveling abroad to attend the International Religious Freedom Summit in the U.S. In March 2025, police in An Giang prevented independent Hòa Hảo Buddhists from holding a memorial ceremony for their founder, Huỳnh Phú Sổ.
Additionally, the government has strengthened its control over religion by creating the Ministry of Ethnic and Religious Affairs. This marks the first time in history that religion has been placed under a dedicated ministry—an indication of the state’s increasing level of control.
This is not the first time HRW has made such observations. In January 2024, HRW released its annual World Report, noting that Vietnam monitored, harassed, and suppressed independent religious groups. In March 2023, HRW also reported that the government labeled independent religious communities—such as Dega Protestants, Hà Mòn, and Falun Gong—as “heretical” and regularly harassed and repressed their followers.
On July 22, 2025, authorities in Tuyên Quang Province announced that there are no longer any followers of the San Sư Khẻ Tọ sect in the province.
The San Sư Khẻ Tọ religion is a little-known indigenous belief system that has developed in parts of northern Vietnam, particularly Tuyên Quang and Hà Giang provinces. It is considered by the Vietnamese government to be an “unregistered” or “heretical” sect, and so it has suffered frequent repression, though adherents regard it as a spiritual practice rooted in local traditions rather than an anti-state movement.
According to officials, at its peak in 2018, the sect had as many as 1,200 households with more than 5,800 adherents across Tuyên Quang.
The authorities also confirmed that followers of San Sư Khẻ Tọ had not engaged in any activities against the state. Nevertheless, they labeled the sect a “heresy,” claiming it was unscientific, corrupted traditional culture, and disrupted public order.
In June 2024, provincial authorities reported that they had completed their target of eradicating 12 independent religious organizations—76 days ahead of schedule. However, the details of this plan were not disclosed.
In recent years, Tuyên Quang has been among the provinces with the harshest crackdowns on independent religious organizations such as Dương Văn Mình, the Church of Almighty God, and Falun Gong. A notable case occurred in May 2022, when a court in Hàm Yên District sentenced 15 H’mong followers of Dương Văn Mình to a total of more than 38 years in prison and imposed fines of 285 million đồng for conducting unauthorized religious activities.
U.K. Places Vietnam Among Ten Priority Countries in Global Religious Freedom Strategy
On July 8, 2025, at the headquarters of the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the British government released its new Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Strategy.
According to the report, the strategy identifies 10 priority countries for targeted FoRB action, including Vietnam. The other countries are Afghanistan, Algeria, China, India, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, and Ukraine.
The strategy aims to promote and protect the right to freedom of religion or belief worldwide through a five-point plan:
- Upholding international FoRB norms in multilateral forums.
- Enhancing the effectiveness of action through targeted bilateral dialogue.
- Expanding the impact of the strategy by strengthening coalitions for action.
- Mainstreaming FoRB and human rights across all U.K. foreign policy.
- Increasing cooperation with civil society.
Vietnam was included among the 10 priority countries because the British government considers its violations of religious freedom to be systematic and in need of intervention through a strategy to improve the situation.
The report also states that the U.K. government will work with civil society organizations, religious groups, and FoRB advocates in the designated priority countries.
This is not the first time that the issue of freedom of religion or belief in Vietnam has drawn international attention.
Most recently, in March 2025, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its 2025 Annual Report, highlighting the Vietnamese government’s escalating repression of independent religious communities and recommending that Vietnam be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC).
In January 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken once again placed Vietnam on the U.S. Special Watch List (SWL) for religious freedom.
A recent report by Open Doors also ranked Vietnam among the worst countries in the world for persecution of Christians.