Release International

Christians from the Hre minority in central Quang Ngai province have seen parts of their community destroyed twice in less than a year.

On March 7, a mob burnt down five houses in Son Tinh Commune in Son Tay district -- the same area where attackers destroyed several homes in July and August 2005. A further four homes were raided and stripped of everything of value in last month's attack.

Before the attack, all nine affected families, who are members of the Evangelical Church of Vietnam, had fled to the house of a local evangelist. They were fearful after a group of war veterans had insulted and attacked a Christian woman in the commune the previous day.

Two storehouses belonging to Christians who lost their homes last year were also set alight, according to Compass Direct.

Church leaders have accused the local authorities of turning a blind eye to the raid. Although officials from the Son Tay District Bureau of Religious Affairs transported the nine affected families back to their commune, they did not offer them any further help. No arrests have been made. Compass Direct reports that the raids of July and August last year were in fact 'instigated by police'.

Meanwhile, evidence has emerged of a proposed government crackdown on Hmong minority Christians in the northern province of Ha Giang. American human rights organisation Freedom House has obtained a document written by the government of Bac Quang district blacklisting 22 Christian leaders wanted by local authorities.
The document, which is dated December 9, 2005, is entitled 'The Plan on Assigning Forces to Fight and Control the Individuals Who Lead Illegal Religious Propagation', AsiaNews reports.

• Pray for the Christian families in Quang Ngai province who have experienced persecution twice in a matter of months. Pray that God would uphold and strengthen them so that they would resist attempts to make them recant their faith.
• Pray that the disclosure of an official campaign to crack-down on Hmong Christian leaders would make it impossible for the authorities in Ha Giang to carry out their plan.

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