Silent Night in Laos
http://www.wsj.com/articles/silent-night-in-laos-1420758189
The communist government in Laos uses the holiday season to pursue a violent crackdown on Christians of the Hmong ethnic minority.
Christmas festivities, religious and secular, are enjoyed across East Asia. But not in Laos. This year the communist government used the holiday season to pursue a violent crackdown on Christians of the Hmong ethnic minority.
In November Radio Free Asia reported village leaders kicking out families who refused to renounce Christianity. Recent Hmong converts were jailed until they reverted to traditional animist practices.
A Christmas Day press release from the Center for Public Policy Analysis in Washington painted an even more dire picture. Not only did the authorities prohibit public observances of Christmas, they carried out torture and killings of Christians. According to the CPPA’s executive director, the Laotian government coordinated the crackdown with neighboring Vietnam.
The Hmong became a target of persecution after they worked with the CIA during the Laotian Civil War. Only a small minority was evacuated after the Communist victory, and thousands who stayed were killed. Now the government’s strict regulation of religion has created more hardship for a new generation drawn to Christianity.
The Communist Party has maintained one-party rule of Laos since the 1970s. It perceives any group or movement not under its thumb as a threat, and as the plight of the Hmong shows, it will go to great lengths to maintain control.
With much of its population living in poverty, Laos desperately needs international trade and investment. Continued persecution of Christians will send a signal to outsiders that it’s better to stay away.
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