Parents of Catholic children barred from school in Vietnam after their families refused to pay what they called exorbitant fees were attacked outside school gates by government-linked thugs this month when they sought a meeting with school administrators, sources in the country said.
The Feb. 23 assault by the Red Flags group in the Dien Doai commune of Nghe An province’s Dien Chau district left several hurt when they were “suddenly and violently” attacked, several of the children’s parents told RFA’s Vietnamese Service.
“Commune authorities called their private security force to the school, and they brought sticks with them,” one parent, named Chu Trong Son, told RFA.
"I told them that I had only come to ask about the children being kicked out, but all of a sudden they began beating me really hard, hitting me on my head. Even today there are bruises on my head and all over my body,” he said.
Also speaking to RFA, one of the students banned from school said his teacher had once asked him in class if he wasn’t ashamed not to pay school fees while his classmates had to pay.
“I wasn’t kicked out that day, but my friends were,” he said. “After that, my parents went to the school and were beaten."
Attacks on Catholics
Dang Van Minh, head priest of the local parish to which the children and their parents belong, said that the commune security force that attacked the parents has recently appeared more frequently in public.
“They are often referred to as the Red Flags group because when they are working they always wear a red shirt with a gold star on it, like the flag of the Hanoi government,” he said, adding that he has tried in the past to resolve the school-fee problem between the parents and the school, but has always been ignored.
“I will now raise this issue with higher authorities, because while it can’t be handled by the local government, I am sure that authorities at a higher level will want to deal with this issue in a more fair and transparent way,” he said.
Government-supporting Red Flags groups frequently mobilize to attack Catholic priests and parishioners in Vietnam in what social media users and rights groups describe as state-sponsored abuse in the one-party communist state.
In October 2017, two priests from Vinh diocese in central Vietnam were surrounded and threatened by a mob of 300 people waving red flags, while in May, hundreds of thugs in Nghe An attacked a group of Catholic parishioners, including women and children, sending dozens to the hospital, sources said in earlier reports.
Reported by RFA's Vietnamese Service. Translated by Emily Peyman. Written in English by Richard Finney.
Only in Asia and 3rd World countries, where civities and dialog are alien. Physically force minority groups to conform is the norm and how government works in RED states (communist).
Mar 05, 2018 11:26 AM
Animals, you attacked catholic parents because you unnumbered them. This is your real nature, attacking the weak, stealing their wealth and eventually killing them. Your courage can be compared to the one of the mafia. I don't have words strong enough to condem what you did to these poor souls. Just go to hell it's where you belong animals.
Mar 02, 2018 04:05 PM
Isn’t it ironic, only the uneducated would resort to violence and follow blindly! Communist understands this; hence; their empty slogans to entice these people to do the Party dirty works. Back then it was war vs their brothers’ in the south, now it’s to divide and intimidation the mass.
This is how they govern by fears and intimidations! They thrive on chaos vs peaceful settlements. Their greatest fear is a concerned citizen with a true voice for this will shatter their dark reign over the people and the Party will not stand for this. They will protect their places w/in the Party. Hence, VN citizens would need to stand tall and rise high to eradicate the stench that was forced upon them by Ho and his goons.
If it was me, I would send all the ‘blood-thirsted red shirt/flag’ goons back to school! I hope your brain will hurt and your soul will be shameful for you have wasted your life in a cesspool all these years.
Mar 02, 2018 12:47 PM
