From the beginning of 2024, during the International Religious Freedom Summit (IRF - an annual conference of civil society organisations) held on January 30-31 in Washington, DC, the US, dozens of individuals claiming to be "activists for religious freedom for Vietnam" took the opportunity to approach and lobby legislators, law enforcement and international organisations to put pressure on the Vietnamese government.
As revealed by one of the participants of the Conference, this is somewhat clear: “We divided into many groups to meet with congressmen and senators to present typical cases of suppression of religious freedom and human rights in Vietnam”.
Among them, it cannot fail to mention the enthusiasm of Nguyen Dinh Thang, CEO and President of Boat People SOS. Taking advantage of the forum, BPSOS organised a series of roundtables under the pretext of discussing religious freedom, but in essence, they distorted religious policies in Vietnam, providing false information about the so-called “religious organisations controlled by the State”, “the State’s repression of indigenous communities in Vietnam”.
As usual, this organisation continued to loudly advocate internationally for the release of “religious prisoners” in Vietnam, calling for the intervention of organisations and governments of other countries against the Vietnamese government, intending to internationalise Vietnam's internal issues.
Recently, on July 22-23, at the International Religious Freedom Summit-Asia (IRF Summit-Asia) held in Tokyo, Japan, BPSOS “rehashed the old story”. As a member of the Organising Committee, this organisation took the opportunity to polish its name as well as try to show its dark purpose.
The head of the organisation, Nguyen Dinh Thang, took advantage of the opportunity to speak as a speaker. It is not surprising that this person continued to blatantly slander and defame Vietnam on the issue of “religious control”; at the same time, he made public opinion extremely angry when he distorted the coordination between the Government Committee for Religious Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security as “to restrain and suppress religion”, as well as giving false information about the so-called “transnational forms of repression by the Vietnamese communists”.
Not stopping there, Nguyen Dinh Thang continued to Taiwan (China) to meet with several organisations, calling on them to contribute to the movement for global religious freedom, and at the same time participating in calling for the establishment of a group to lobby congressmen to support Religious Freedom in Vietnam in the US.
In an interview with the press, Nguyen Dinh Thang said that senators who influence US foreign policy, especially regarding the issue of religious freedom, need to listen to the voices of their constituents. Therefore, BPSOS arranged a delegation of seven people to work at the office of Congressman Lou Correa in Orange County, California. This is also the second most populous county in the state and the third in the US, especially since Orange County is also home to a large number of Vietnamese people.
Information from BPSOS said that the delegation had made several proposals and scheduled regular meetings with the local office of Representative Correa and Congress to coordinate actions. From this, there is an opinion that Nguyen Dinh Thang is plotting to use the "voter voice" trick to put pressure on US representatives.
Recently, under the direction of Nguyen Dinh Thang, BPSOS has continuously promoted the implementation of the so-called “Vietnam Civil Rights Project”, calling for ensuring the proper implementation of civil rights protection provisions in national laws and promoting compliance with human rights standards under international law.
However, in reality, this organisation regularly disseminates false and fabricated information about the Party’s policies and the State's laws on religious issues, inciting and causing division in the great national unity bloc, undermining the people's trust in the Party's leadership, obstructing the path to socialism in Vietnam, and lowering the role and prestige of Vietnam in the international arena.
On June 20, 2024, BPSOS issued a notice distorting the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha as a “pseudo-religious” organisation, thereby inciting people to “use their civil rights to denounce illegal acts to the authorities and request that these agencies handle them following the provisions of the law”.
Even more arrogant, BPSOS’s “Vietnam Civil Rights Project” prepared two forms (Request Form, Crime Complaint Form) calling on people to fill in their personal information and sign, while declaring “We (ie BPSOS) and international human rights organisations will pay due attention to monitor and protect anyone who performs these legitimate legal acts”.
It is worth mentioning that in the two forms issued, BPSOS deliberately prepared false content to criticise and attack the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha and made an outrageous demand requesting the Government Committee for Religious Affairs to perform its functions and issue documents to rectify the illegal acts of the above-mentioned organisations and individuals.
In the process of performing its functions, if it is determined that the above acts have signs of crime, it is necessary to immediately transfer that information to the criminal investigation agency according to the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. BPSOS blatantly sent out a threatening message: “If the Vietnamese Government complies with the law and punishes violators, that is a good thing, but if they cover up for the fake religious organisation that they themselves created, it will be the basis for us to mobilise international attention and action”.
BPSOS's actions do not surprise those who are knowledgeable about the issue, because they have long been familiar with the way this organisation operates. BPSOS is essentially an exiled reactionary organisation with fierce opposition methods and tactics both at home and abroad, directly violating Vietnam's national security.
Reports from the authorities showed that from 2016 to the present, BPSOS has organised many training courses for domestic subjects, mainly intellectuals, members with distorted perceptions of politics and law, and political extremists in religion and ethnicity.
Through training, BPSOS has guided these subjects to write reports on democracy and human rights issues to propagandise against Vietnam. This organisation also actively incited several domestic subjects to establish disguised groups under the name of “democracy” and “human rights” activities to gather forces to carry out activities against Vietnam.
BPSOS itself has stated that it has collaborated with domestic opposition groups to collect information and create distorted reports on the situation in Vietnam to bring this issue to meetings and seminars organised by competent authorities. The operation of this organisation shows that although it uses the name “refugee support”, BPSOS has thoroughly exploited the refugee issue to propagate and sabotage Vietnam in international forums, as well as complicate the security and order situation in some localities in the country.
It is necessary to affirm that Vietnam has always consistently implemented a policy of respecting and ensuring freedom of belief and religion. The report at the July 18 conference on religious work, to review the first 6 months of the year and deploy the work for the last 6 months of 2024, in Ha Long City, Quang Ninh province stated:
In the first 6 months of 2024, the state management sector on religion closely followed the direction of the Politburo, the Secretariat, the Government, the Prime Minister and the leaders of the Ministry of Home Affairs; strictly implemented discipline, administrative discipline and completed the political tasks assigned by the Party and the State; advised the Party, the State, the Government, the Prime Minister and the leaders of the Ministry of Home Affairs on many major policies and tasks in state management of beliefs and religions; promptly detected and advised on handling of illegal activities related to religion, creating consensus among dignitaries, believers and the masses.
State management of beliefs and religions ensured effectiveness and efficiency, stabilising the situation of beliefs and religions nationwide. Authorities at all levels paid attention to guiding and helping religious organisations operate following the provisions of the law; ensuring stable religious activities, compliance with the law, and attachment to the nation.
Inspection and examination of law enforcement on beliefs and religions have been carried out following the provisions of the law. Religious diplomacy and human rights struggle continued to be maintained and promoted; proactively providing information and refuting the distorted arguments of hostile forces, actively contributing to the open foreign policy of our Party and State.
In the first 6 months of 2024, religious activities nationwide took place vigorously, basically in compliance with the law. The trust of religious dignitaries and followers in the Party and State was strengthened. Legitimate religious organisations continued to identify directions for activities that are closely linked and accompany the nation; and promote resources for the cause of national construction and defence.
The above results continued to show that the correct and effective policies of the Party and State have contributed practically to ensuring freedom of belief and religion in Vietnam, which no force can distort or defame.
