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_WORLD WATCH______________________________
________________Laos_______________
Roundup of Christians
Government campaign to shut down churches
Eight Christians in Laos have been arrested and an organized campaign to shut down churches across the country has begun, according to a British human rights group.
The Jubilee Campaign said seven Protestant leaders and a church member were arrested on May 31 in Savannakhet province because they refused to renounce their religious beliefs. They were formally accused of anti-government activities and working for foreign political movements. The campaign said three of the men are now too weak to walk because of poor prison conditions.
Although the southeast Asian country bordering Vietnam and Thailand officially provides a constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, in recent years there have been reports of persecution of Christians by government officials. “The Communist government in Laos is intent on wiping out the Church there,” said Wilfred Wong, a researcher for the Jubilee Campaign, a Christian group based in Guildford, England, that lobbies for the rights of children and against religious persecution.
According to a US State Department human rights report on Laos, some churches had been shut down in Savannakhet, Luang Prabang, and Vientiane provinces this year and worshippers were forced by local officials to renounce their religious beliefs. It was not clear if the officials were acting on orders from the central government, it said.
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