Two pastors shot in Dak Lak province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands region in recent months say they were targeted for their religious activities. Both are from the Ede ethnic minority and lead independent house churches that are not registered with the government.
Pastor Y Hung Ayun (62), who leads a house church in Tara Puor village, was shot in the leg with a rubber bullet while riding a motorbike home on Sunday 1 December. Two men with their faces covered rode a motorbike alongside the pastor and the passenger shot him twice in the left knee before they made their escape.
Pastor Ayun’s knee was bruised and swollen after the attack, which he believes was a warning to him to stop his work as pastor of an independent house church. He told Radio Free Asia, “They attacked me to warn that I should withdraw and return to the [government-approved] Evangelical Church of Vietnam.”
Y Hung Ayun previously served nine years in prison for “undermining the national solidarity policy” but in 2017, after completing his probation, he trained to become a pastor and since then police have closely monitored him. They have installed security cameras to monitor his home and require him to notify them when he goes away on long trips.
The authorities closely monitor independent unregistered house churches, harass and intimidate their leaders and sometimes confiscate Bibles, hymn books, phones, computers and leaders’ cash.
Pastor shot in September
On 25 September Pastor Y Pho Eban (57), who leads an unregistered house church in Cue village in Dak Lak province, was shot in the leg while cutting grass in his coffee field. He fell to the ground and did not see who shot him, though he said that three people in camouflage had approached him earlier and told him they were hunting civets (small mammals native to tropical Asia and Africa).
He was left with a bleeding wound, a deep hole in his leg and a chipped bone. The bullet was removed in hospital and the wound was treated but the pastor has been unable to walk since the shooting.
Explaining why he did not report the incident at the time, the pastor told Radio Free Asia, “They hate me because I worship at a house church, which they absolutely forbid. They said we were not allowed to gather. Every time they summon me to the commune [headquarters], they threaten to ‘handle’ me and my family. That’s what they always say.”
In late November police summoned five church members and warned them against attending worship at Y Pho Eban’s home, saying, “He is a bad person and is about to be arrested.” Police later summoned other members but the pastor said he told them not to go, since “the invitations are only sealed, not signed”.
Pastor Y Pho Eban’s case is notable for the size of his church (around two hundred members) and because he is the father of Christian activist Y Quynh Bdap, co-founder of advocacy group Montagnards Stand for Justice.
Activist son
Y Quynh Bdap (32) is currently facing extradition from Thailand to Vietnam to face what Frontline Defenders describes as “trumped-up” charges for alleged terrorist and anti-government activities relating to an attack on two government offices in Dak Lak province in June 2023 that left nine people dead. Vietnamese authorities convicted him in absentia of terrorist offences in January 2024.
Following the Vietnamese government’s unusual extradition request, a Thai court ordered that Y Quynh Bdap be extradited to Vietnam to face charges. He has denied involvement in the incident and his lawyer is appealing the court ruling.
Y Quynh Bdap was not in Vietnam during the protests – he has been in Thailand since 2018, seeking asylum and resettlement, and has been granted refugee status by the UNHCR. There are concerns that he will face torture or death if sent back to Vietnam.
Read Church in Chains’ Vietnam Country Profile.
(Barnabas Aid, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, International Christian Concern, Radio Free Asia)
Photo: Montagnards Stand for Justice