Senator Thanh Hai Ngo hosts Religious Freedom Roundtable at the Senate of Canada

April 14, 2014

OTTAWA – On April 11th 2014, the Honourable Senator Thanh Hai Ngo hosted a religious freedom roundtable with numerous religious leaders from the Vietnamese-Canadian community. He was joined by Mrs. Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development, and representatives from the Department of Religious freedom and the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.

Members of Vietnamese religious groups representing the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), Hoa Hao Buddhism, Cao Dai, the Catholic Church of Vietnam, the Montagnard and the Lay Buddhist Group joined in the roundtable discussion of religious freedom in Vietnam.

The testimonies and recommendations from the religious groups made it clear that the human rights situation in Vietnam remains dire. Religious groups in Vietnam are facing ongoing systematic oppression based on their beliefs and personal faith, resulting in fundamental violations of international human rights standards” said Senator Ngo after the roundtable.

Because the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has failed to respect the internationally recognized human rights, including the right to freely practice any religion or belief, I believe this raises serious concerns and paves enough grounds to launch a Senate inquiry to further investigate the grave violations of human rights in Vietnam pertaining to religious freedom.” the Senator added.

Canada is committed to ensuring the protection of human rights around the world and is a global leader in promoting Religious Freedom. Canada is proud to stand with the Vietnamese people and will continue to work to ensure the protection of human rights and religious freedom in Vietnam”, said Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development
According to the International Human Rights Rank Indicator, Vietnam is ranked 204th out of 216 countries in terms of violation of human rights and religious freedom.

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The Honourable Senator Thanh Hai Ngo, Mrs. Lois Brown, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development, and representative of the Office of Religious Freedom and from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada with religious groups representing the Unified Buddhist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), the Catholic Church, Cao Dai, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Montagnard, the Lay Buddhist Group of Vietnam,
the delegation coordinators and members of Voice.

Click here for French audio of the Roundtable

Click here for the English audio of the Roundtable

Click here for the Floor audio of the Roundtable

Click here for Summary of Reccomendations

To view the pictures from this event, please visit our Flickr Page