Vietnam
Catholics Demand Return of Land in Rare Protest
RFA –
10/24/2014
A group
of Catholics in Vietnam held a rare protest demanding that local officials in
the capital Hanoi halt the filling of a lake on property they say belongs to
their parish, according to priests and church members on Friday.
Followers of the Thai Ha Redemptorist Church in Dong Da district held the
protest outside of the local People’s Committee office on Thursday, carrying
banners which said the decision by authorities to fill the 18,200-square-meter
(195,900-square-foot) Ba Giang lake was in violation of the law.
Followers of the parish group say the longstanding land dispute stems from a
“state policy” of limiting the influence of religion in communist Vietnam, where
freedom of worship is tightly controlled.
No one was sent Thursday from the People’s Committee office to meet with the
protesters, who dispersed after security guards tore down their banners, church
members told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
The protest followed a complaint dated Oct. 16 that the group had sent to Hanoi
People’s Committee chairman Nguyen The Thao, calling on the government to cease
filling the lake, which it said was an infringement on the legal rights of the
Thai Ha church.
The complaint was never answered, members of the group said, and calls by RFA to
Dong Da’s People’s Committee office, People’s Council office, and the office of
Land and Urban Management received no answer.
Priest Nguyen Ngoc Nam Phong told RFA that an increasing number of people from
the local community had sought to join Thai Ha parish and that the church wanted
the government to return the entire six-hectare (15-acre) plot it claims to have
owned since 1928.
“Right now we only have 2,700 square meters (29,000 square feet) of the total
six hectares, while our demand is growing,” Phong said.
“Every Sunday we have about 15,000 people coming to attend service, but we don’t
have anywhere to hold classes and the premises are not big enough to meet the
demand,” he said.
“We have asked the government to return our Ba Giang lake, which is now [being
filled], or give us new land. That land legally belongs to us and the
government’s documents also confirm that.”
Growing membership
A church member who spoke on condition of anonymity said that so many area
children had been coming for Bible classes on Sundays that study sessions had to
be organized in the yard.
“There are many more children attending classes now—every Sunday afternoon at
2:00 p.m. there are hundreds of them,” he said, adding that the church did not
have enough room to host evening activities either.
“Many people want to know more about the Bible, but we don’t have room to hold
classes … We lack a lot, but [the authorities] don’t care.”
According to parishioners, the six hectares of land in Dong Da district have
belonged to Thai Ha since it was bought by Canadian priests in 1928, and usage
of Ba Giang lake was never granted to any individual or organization through
legal contract.
They say district officials contend that Priest Nguyen Ngoc Bich signed a
document handing all six hectares of the land over to the government in 1961,
but have been unable to provide evidence of the document despite repeated
requests.
The church has actively pursued its claims to the land since 1996, demanding
that the land be returned, but local officials continue to carry out “illegal
construction” on the plot.
‘State policy’
A second church member, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while the
government stands to benefit from developing the land for its own purposes, its
real aim is to reduce the influence of the church in Vietnam, which strictly
controls religious freedom.
“Actually, they likely have something against our religion, so that is why they
repress us,” he said.
“They use their power to take our assets, and we can’t claim them back.”
Thai Ha’s Phong said that the government’s refusal to return the land is in line
with “state policy,” which he said is “one of limiting religions.”
“If they can’t destroy a religion from the inside, they attack it from the
outside and repress the development of the religion. This policy makes land
disputes difficult to resolve,” he said.
“Their policy on religion never changes, and when the policy will not be
changed, nothing can be solved.”
Catholicism claims some 6 million followers in Vietnam, making it the second
largest religion after Buddhism among Vietnam's 92.5 million people.
Vietnam and the Holy See—the government of the Catholic Church—have not had
formal diplomatic relations since Vietnam’s communist government took over in
1975, but have been working toward closer ties since resuming dialogue in 2007
with the establishment of a Joint Working Group.
Last month, officials from Vietnam and the Vatican held talks on prospects of
restoring full diplomatic ties.
Vietnam's communist government says it respects the freedom of belief and
religion, but religious activity remains under state control.
Reported by An Nguyen for RFA’s Vietnamese Service. Written in English by
Joshua Lipes.