Vietnam rejects assessments in US religious freedom report

The foreign ministry's spokesperson Pham Thu Hang made the statement at a regular press briefing in Hanoi on Thursday in response to questions about USCIRF’s recommendation to designate Vietnam as a country of particular concern on religious freedom.

Hang said Vietnam “firmly rejects assessments in the USCIRF report, which are unobjective, inaccurate, and based on information with ill intent targeting Vietnam.”

She reaffirmed that Vietnam maintains a consistent policy of respecting and safeguarding human rights, including freedom of belief and religion, which is enshrined in the country’s 2013 Constitution, incorporated into its legal system and upheld in practice.

“No Vietnamese citizen is subject to discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, and the activities of religious organizations are guaranteed in accordance with the law,” Hang added.

She also said Vietnam remains open to engaging with the U.S. on issues of mutual concern in a spirit of frankness, openness, and mutual respect, in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership for peace, cooperation, and sustainable development between the two countries.

Vietnam has recognized 36 religious organizations across 16 religions, including Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Caodaism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Islam, and the Baha’i Faith.

As of 2023, more than 26.5 million people in Vietnam, around 27 percent of the population, identify with a religion, with over 54,000 clerics, 135,000 religious officials, and nearly 30,000 places of worship.

Buddhism has the largest following, with more than 14 million adherents and 18,544 worship sites in 2021, followed by Catholicism with upwards of seven million followers and 7,771 worship sites.

Vietnam also has thousands of concentrated religious groups, including those of foreigners legally residing in the country.

The white paper ‘Religion and Religious Policy in Vietnam,’ published in 2023, also stated that there is no discrimination based on belief or religion and that people of different faiths live together harmoniously in Vietnam’s multi ethnic society.

Vietnam has previously rejected other foreign reports it considers unobjective or lacking verification regarding human rights and religious freedom, including past USCIRF annual reports.

USCIRF was established by the U.S. Congress as an independent bipartisan advisory body to the U.S. government and presents itself as a global monitor of religious freedom, providing policy recommendations to the U.S. president, secretary of state, and Congress.