WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican lawmakers and activists are calling on the Obama administration to put Vietnam back on a US religious freedoms blacklist.

Reps. Frank Wolf and Chris Smith also said on Wednesday that the State Department should avoid deepening ties with economically vibrant Vietnam until human rights improve.

The Bush administration handed Hanoi a major concession in 2006 when it removed Vietnam from a list of countries the United States considers guilty of severe violations of religious freedoms.

The Obama administration has also sought to strengthen ties with the fast-growing Southeast Asian country.

The lawmakers criticised Vietnam for an alleged violent crackdown on Catholics involved in a land dispute with the government.