Lao Officials Confiscate Church Buildings; Tell Christians to give up faith or be expelled.
By Sarah Page AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Compass Direct News) – Lao officials on Thursday (April 5) confiscated and sealed a church building in southern Laos after holding a two-day seminar warning against religious belief, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). Besides sealing the church building in Khamnonsung village, Saybuly district, they also warned that other unrecognized churches in the district in Savannakhet Province would soon be shut down. Local Communist Party official … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
Lao Officials Arrest Five Christians in Southern Village
By Sarah Page BANGKOK, Thailand (Compass Direct News) – Officials in a village in southern Laos on Sunday (March 25) arrested and detained five Christians during worship and charged them with leading a religious movement without official approval, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). The five Christians from Palansai district were attending a worship service in nearby Boukham village in Ad-Sapangthong district. HRWLRF identified the five by their single names, as … Read entire article »
Filed under: Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
Lao Officials Force Christians to Recant their Faith before allowing a Burial
Separately in Boukham village, authorities move Christians to animal pen. By Sarah Page DUBLIN, December 30 – Officials this week forced Christians in a Lao village to give up their faith in order to bury a family member in the village graveyard, according to advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF). In Huey, Ad-Sapangthong district of Savannakhet Province, where immediate burial is essential in the hot tropical climate, the village’s eight Christian families quickly began … Read entire article »
Filed under: Buddhism, Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
Village officials in Laos threaten to evict entire church from village unless they give up their faith
By Sarah Page DUBLIN (Compass Direct News) – Nearly 50 Christians await their fate today after officials in Natoo village, southern Laos, on Wednesday (Dec. 21) summoned four of their leaders and warned that they would evict the entire church “within 24 hours” if they refused to give up their faith. Officials told the Christians they had forfeited their right to live in the village because of their faith, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch for Lao … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
Lao Officials Arrest Eight Christian Leaders
By Sarah Page DUBLIN (Compass Direct News) – Police early this morning traveled to Boukham village in Laos’ Savannakhet Province to meet with officials about the arrest on Friday (Dec. 16) of eight Christian leaders who had gathered some 200 church members for a Christmas celebration, an advocacy group reported today. Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom (HRWLRF) reported that the leaders had secured permission for Friday’s event from Boukham’s village chief and invited him to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Christian, Compass Direct, Laos, Persecution
