The Brotherhood for Democracy (BFD) was founded on 24 April 2013, in Vietnam. Shortly afterward, co-founders Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and Pastor Nguyen Trung Ton received an email from Nguyen Van Thoi, a student in the UK, expressing his desire to join BFD. Lawyer Dai and Pastor Ton agreed to his request, and from then on, Thoi regularly signed BFD petitions and helped deliver these petitions to the UK government. Thoi also managed to recruit a few more members in the UK.
In September 2015, Thoi sent a member from London, Tran Dieu Huong, a Vietnamese student in the UK, to meet with Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai in Hanoi. Huong met with several BFD members in Hanoi and Saigon, including Phuong Uyen, who later moved to the United States.
On 16 December 2015, Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was arrested. He later sought asylum in Germany on 8 June 2018. From the UK, Thoi contacted Lawyer Dai, informing him that in 2016, he had received permission from Mr. Pham Van Troi and Mr. Nguyen Trung Ton to establish BFD in the UK. Vietnamese citizens living, working, and studying in the UK were free to join BFD. Thoi had full authority to accept and approve membership applications, and the UK membership list was independent of BFD leadership in Vietnam. BFD in the UK operated independently in personnel and all other aspects.
Thoi reported to Lawyer Dai that the number of UK-based members had reached nearly 200 and invited Dai to visit the UK to speak with members. In late 2018, Thoi traveled to Germany to meet Dai, who had by then been elected BFD’s Chairman. Lawyer Dai introduced Thoi to Berlin and members there, with support from Bui Thanh Hieu (known as “Nguoi Buon Gio”).
On May 26, 2019, Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai was invited by Thoi to speak with BFD members in London at Que Huong House. Thoi also invited former BBC Vietnam correspondent Bill Hayton to join the discussion with Lawyer Dai. Before 2007, when Dai was still practicing law in Vietnam, Hayton frequently interviewed him at the Thien An Law Office.
On that day, nearly 200 BFD members attended the gathering and discussion. Lawyer Nguyen Van Dai and Bill Hayton shared insights on freedom of speech and freedom of the press. After the talk, Nguyen Van Dai and Bill Hayton took photos with BFD members.
In June 2019, Nguyen Van Thoi told Nguyen Van Dai that his wife wished to return to Vietnam for their wedding. Thoi and his wife had been living together in the UK but had not yet held a wedding ceremony. His wife set a condition: if Thoi continued working with BFD, they would separate. Thoi requested that Nguyen Van Dai find a replacement. Dang Thanh Nhan and several other members volunteered to take on the role.
From June 2019, Dang Thanh Nhan served as the official representative of BFD in the UK. BFD in the UK is a free, voluntary organization operating independently in personnel and in all other aspects. Its purpose is to advocate for freedom, democracy, and human rights for Vietnam.
Main Activities of BFD in the UK:
- Organizing and participating in protests outside the Vietnamese Embassy in London to condemn the Vietnamese Communist authorities for human rights abuses, land seizures, demanding religious freedom, and calling for the release of prisoners of conscience. Protests are also held outside the Chinese Embassy in London to oppose China’s encroachment on Vietnamese sovereignty.
- Hosting discussions on Vietnam’s human rights and political situation.
- Holding seminars on human rights, civil society, and pressing issues affecting Vietnam and the world.
- Organizing both online and offline meetings.
- Signing petitions to the UK government and parliament.
- Members actively use social media daily to advocate, promote freedom, democracy, and human rights, and to denounce the Vietnamese Communist authorities for corruption.
- Voluntarily contributing to support families of BFD’s prisoners of conscience each Tet holiday.
