In a report released on Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch said serious restrictions placed on the movements of human rights activists in Vietnam seriously impacted the lives of dissidents and their families.

The 65-page report, ‘Locked Inside Our Homes: Movement Restrictions on Rights Activists in Vietnam,’ said the Vietnamese government systematically restricted the right to freedom of movement of political and human rights activists.

The government said the restriction of the movement was both within and to and from Vietnam.

“The Vietnamese government systematically represses civil and political rights, putting activists and dissidents at constant risk,’’ said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The report disclosed that plainclothes police monitor activists’ houses or even lock them inside to stop people from leaving their homes.

When former U.S. President Barack Obama visited Vietnam, only half of the activists he invited to a meeting could attend. Prominent dissident Nguyen Quang A was dragged into a car by security officials and taken around Hanoi to prevent him from attending the meeting.

“The authorities employ rights-abusing tactics such as holding activists in indefinite house arrest, detention when away from home, and bans on leaving the country under fabricated national security grounds,’’ Robertson added.

Human Rights Watch documented 170 cases of activists or dissidents being denied the right to freedom of movement between 2004 and 2021. Their international movements were often limited by rejecting passport renewals over fears they would speak with foreign diplomats or exiled dissidents.

(dpa/NAN)