Vietnam

A Vietnamese man has survived surgery in which a tumor, that was nearly twice the weight of him, was removed.

The tumor which had been with, Nguyen Duy Hai, since he was a child had caused him to become unable to walk for several years leading up to the surgery.

Hai, 31, of Da Lat City, has Von Recklinghausen's neurofibromatosis, said Dr. Jean-Marcel Guillon, chief executive officer of FV Hospital, according to CNN. more >>

HANOI, Vietnam – Three Christians seriously injured during a savage attack near Hanoi on Nov. 13 have been evacuated to an undisclosed hospital in Ho Chi Minh City after several hospitals in the region refused to examine and treat them.

The attack on a church leaders’ worship service of an Agape Baptist Church (ABC) house church in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district left one woman, evangelist Nguyen Thi Lan, with her pelvis broken in two places and with badly damaged internal organs, according to doctors who recommended emergency surgery. Yet previously doctors at three area hospitals had told her and two other seriously injured Christians that they were fine and dismissed them, said Pastor Nguyen Cong Thanh, head of the ABC.

When doctors in Vietnam learn that religious motives play a role in violence, commonly they do not dare to treat or even examine the victims of persecution. more >>

HANOI, Vietnam – A gang of men attacked leaders of a Baptist house church network near Hanoi on Sunday (Nov. 13), leaving one pastor unconscious and seriously injuring several others, including women and teenage children.

Leaders of the Agape Baptist Church were participating in a spiritual renewal meeting at the home of pastor Nguyen Danh Chau in Lai Tao village, Bot Xuyen commune, My Duc district, when the gang intruded at 9:30 a.m., sources said. Beating people and smashing property, the gang seriously injured more than a dozen participants and warned Nguyen Danh Chau that they would kill him if he continued gathering Christians, the sources in Vietnam said.

With the attack underway, the sources said, some gang members ran outside and announced to the neighborhood, “Oh heavens, the Christian pastors are savagely beating up people!” This attracted a large crowd, which the gang hoped would prevent any Christians from escaping. more >>

HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam – Thugs said to be doing the bidding of local authorities attacked a pastor and his family with iron bars and wooden clubs in central Vietnam on Oct. 23, seriously injuring the heads and arms of the church leader’s father and other relatives, sources said.

Twice on the same Sunday that local authorities disrupted a house church service in Phu Quy village near Tam Ky, Quang Nam Province, a gang of about 20 men attacked the father, brother and other family members of pastor Thien An, who was locked in a secure room as his family believed the gang sought to kill him, sources said.

Police had visited his home the week prior to “investigate” the house church, whose application for registration authorities have twice denied, according to the pastor. Church members echoed the sentiment of one Christian that “even a child” could figure out the connection between the gang and the public security police who disrupted their service that morning. more >>

A Vietnamese man has watched as his young wife aged in appearance from a woman in her 20s to someone in her 70s almost overnight and, despite the sudden change, has declared that he still loves her.

The matrimonial vow of staying with one's partner through thick and thin, "till death do us part," appears to have held firm in this case as Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, from the Mekong Delta province of Ben Tre, has watched helplessly as his young wife Nguyen Thi Phuong grows old before his eyes, according to media reports.

This all started three years ago when Nguyen Thi Phuong, currently 26, had an allergic reaction to seafood and began taking medication to stop the resulting itching of her skin. more >>

An international human rights group has urged the Vietnamese government to cease “Labor Therapy"– a drug rehabilitation program that forces drug addicts into “treatment centers” where they are made to carry out various manual labor tasks.

In a report released by Human Rights Watch of New York City, “Forced labor and physical abuse are not an adjunct to drug dependency treatment in Vietnam,” the report says. “Rather, they are central to how the centers operate.”

Human Rights Watch report suggests that labor therapy in Hanoi, Vietnam is nothing more than a sweatshop in a “help-them-get-back-on-their-feet” disguise. more >>