UK Parliament hears ‘squeeze’ of persecution of Christians ‘as dangerous as violence’

Christian women are particularly vulnerable because of their gender and their faith. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Most of the 200 million Christians globally under pressure for their faith don’t experience violence but a ‘daily squeeze’ which is more insidious and – if left unchallenged – can lead to violence, MPs and others heard yesterday (17 January) at the launch of Open Doors’ World Watch List 2018 . . . Read More

Catholic priest stabbed as violence continues in Central African Republic

Catholic priest stabbed as violence continues in Central African Republic
Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic have condemned a recent upsurge of violence in the country and called on armed groups to lay down their weapons. Fighting between rival armed groups erupted in the north-western town of Paoua and its surroundings at the end of December, while in the . . . Read More

Burkina Faso: 2 years on, thousands call for release of ‘doctor of the poor’ by Al-Qaeda offshoot

Burkina Faso: 2 years on, thousands call for release of ‘doctor of the poor’ by Al-Qaeda offshoot
Thousands took to the streets of Djibo, a northern town in Burkina Faso, on Monday (15 January) to call for the government to secure the release of an Australian doctor, Ken Elliott, kidnapped two years ago. The abduction was claimed by the ‘Emirate of the Sahara’, a branch of Al-Qaeda . . . Read More

Eritrea: mental health challenges for Christian man freed after 13 years in prison

Eritrea remains “one of the worst examples of state-sponsored repression of freedom of religion or belief in the world”, says USCIRF Commissioner.  (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Shiden* was young and full of optimism for the future when he was imprisoned for his Christian faith. For the next 13 years he was exposed to torture of different kinds, including months in a very small cell in solitary confinement, and even his eventual release failed to bring about . . . Read More

Egypt: Sinai militants pledge to ‘kill more Copts’ after murdering man over cross tattoo

A Coptic cross tattooed on a wrist, like the one hat killed Bassem. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
Militants belonging to the ‘State of Sinai’ group in Egypt have promised to “kill more Copts” after murdering a 27-year-old Coptic man because of the tattoo of a cross on his wrist. Bassem Herz Attalhah, also known as Haythem Shehata, was on his way home from work in El-Arish, capital . . . Read More

Report: ‘Islamic war of expansion’ underpins ‘religious cleansing’ in southern Kaduna, Nigeria

Report: ‘Islamic war of expansion’ underpins ‘religious cleansing’ in southern Kaduna, Nigeria
A new report highlights Nigeria’s failed attempts, over decades, to deal with the violence perpetrated by Fulani Muslim herdsmen in one of the country’s Middle Belt states. It concludes that continued failings will force Christians to leave the area in a “religious cleansing” that is part of a drive for . . . Read More

Netherlands joins UN Security Council to shine light on IS genocide

A church in Karamles, a town near Mosul, after IS was pushed out in October 2016. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
The Netherlands has just joined the UN Security Council as a temporary member for a year. Ten days before, its Foreign Minister, Halbe Zijlstra, published a letter explaining the Dutch government’s response on the use by politicians of the term “genocide”. The Dutch Parliament had had several debates on the . . . Read More