Pham Thanh Nghien
Current Status: At risk
Other Names: Phạm Thanh Nghiên
Date of Birth: November 24, 1977
Gender: F
Religion: Christian (Catholic)
Ethnicity: Kinh
Occupation: Blogger
Areas of Activism:
- Democracy
- Environment
- Freedom of expression
- Human rights
- Sovereignty
Known Affiliations:
- Former Vietnamese Prisoners of Conscience Association
- Bloc 8406
- Network of Vietnamese Bloggers
Communities At Risk:
- Loc Hung vegetable garden
Details - Background, History of Activism, Family Situation, Contact Information.
In 2016, Pham Thanh Nghien got married Huynh Anh Tu, a former prisoner of conscience, who has lived in Loc Hung since 2014. They have a toddler and had just completed building their own house in Loc Hung vegetable garden one week before the new house was torn down during the forced evictions on January 4 and 8, 2019.
Profile photo source: Facebook Dương Đại Triều Lâm
On September 2008, Pham Thanh Nghien was arrested because of her protest against China’s illegal claim towards Paracel and Spratly Islands. Accused of “conducting propaganda against the State of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam," Nghien was sentenced to four years in jail and three years under house arrest on January 29, 2010.
Facebook Phạm Thanh Nghiên
Nhà báo Phạm Thanh Nghiên bị tuyên án 4 năm tù, Voice of America Vietnamese, January 29, 2010
Vietnam, dissident Pham Thanh Nghien sentenced to 7 years, AsiaNews, January 30, 2010
Interview with Pham Thanh Nghien (Part 1 – Arrest), The 88 Project, April 5, 2013
January 8, 2019: house destroyed during forced eviction at Loc Hung vegetable garden
Forced eviction
January 8, 2019
Local administration
Loc Hung vegetable garden, Ward 6, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City (map)
- freedom of movement
- respect of privacy, family, home, and correspondence
In the early morning of January 8, the authorities carried out their land-grabbing for the second day at Loc Hung vegetable garden, Ward 6, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City.
A house of former political prisoners Pham Thanh Nghien and Huynh Anh Tu was destroyed on this day. The couple just completed building their new house in Loc Hung with their ten-year savings, only to see that house destroyed a week after. Pham Thanh Nghien managed to leave to bring her one-year-old daughter to a safe place thanks to a friend’s support, while Huynh Anh Tu stayed behind and witnessed the destruction of their house at 4:25 pm.
Tu and Nghien’s family is now in a particularly precarious situation: as a former refugee in Thailand and long-term political prisoner, Huynh Anh Tu does not have any identification papers, so they are unable to rent. Nghien and Tu’s toddler has asthma and they need a home with electricity for her to have access to a functioning nebulizer aspirator.
Note: Loc Hung vegetable garden is a six-hectare area that belongs to the Catholic Church of Vietnam in Ward 6, District Tan Binh, Ho Chi Minh City. That area has been in dispute between the local government and the households for nearly twenty years. The authorities prevented the Loc Hung residents from legalizing their land use right even though the residents have valid documents to support their claim.
The negotiation ended with the first forced eviction on January 4, destroying around 10 houses by a powerful force, including police, civil defense forces, and volunteer youth, with equipment such as bulldozers and firetrucks. After the second day of land-grabbing on January 8, 2019, all 112 houses were totally destroyed.
Please read more on the land-grabbing at Loc Hung vegetable garden, here.
Facebook Phạm Thanh Nghiên
Land-Grabbing In Vietnam Gets Serious In Urban Areas, The Vietnamese, January 5, 2019
Forced Eviction in Catholic Community of Loc Hung Leaves Hundreds of Families Homeless and Destitute, Including Many Political Activists, The 88 Project, January 8, 2019
Vụ cưỡng chế khu vườn rau Lộc Hưng: Kêu gọi người dân kê khai nhận hỗ trợ, Tuoi Tre Newspaper, January 17, 2019
Profile last updated: 2020-02-20 14:21:26