General

Analysis: What to make of China’s demolition of crosses?

September 22, 2015 China Crosses, Sanjiang, Xi Jinping, Zhejiang

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the US once again throws into the spotlight China’s human rights record, including that on freedom of religion. Despite China’s past, it is now generally acknowledged that Christianity is growing at a great rate. In 2007, it was estimated that the population of Christians . . . Read More

Religious freedom in the Arabian Peninsula?

September 22, 2015 Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

Medina in Saudi Arabia is the heartland of the Islamic faith, attracting millions of pilgrims every year.Wajahat Mahmood / Flickr / CC A recent article in Christianity Today reports that Christianity is booming in the “heart of Islam”, with the “millions” of Christians there not really facing persecution – . . . Read More

Religious freedom network should be as ‘outspoken and organised’ as the extremists

September 22, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Brazil, El Salvador, Europe, Germany, Honduras, Iran, Migrants, Netherlands, New York, Norway, Religious freedom, Saeed Abedini, South Sudan, Taiwan, UN, USA

In the face of rising persecution of people on the grounds of faith or belief, more than 100 parliamentarians from almost 50 countries met on 18 September in New York to discuss ways to advance religious freedoms. One hundred and thirty delegates packed into a room that was booked for . . . Read More

Coptic soldier’s father challenges military autopsy

September 17, 2015 Egypt Conscripts, Copts, Egypt, Suez

The father of an Egyptian Christian soldier found dead in his military unit 12 weeks ago is adamant, and angry. The results of an autopsy and military investigation into his son’s death are simply “not true,” he says. “I am very angry at the Suez military prosecution for refusing to . . . Read More

Iraq’s ISIS survivors adjust to life in a refugee camp

September 17, 2015 Iraq Erbil, Islamic State, Mosul, Refugees, UN

As the world attempts to come to terms with the thousands of refugees escaping the horrors of war in Syria and Iraq, World Watch Monitor hears what life is like for the hundreds of families from northern Iraq who fled overnight from an invading ISIS force to settle in a makeshift camp, which has now . . . Read More

Malatya murder suspects make final appeals

September 16, 2015 Turkey Malatya

Four of five suspects on trial for murdering three Christians in Turkey’s south-eastern city of Malatya have all named the fifth suspect as the sole killer. It was no surprise when the four men, now in their late 20s, made their final defence appeals in court last week, each facing . . . Read More

NE India – Manipur violence sparks fears of religious conflict

September 14, 2015 India Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Hindu nationalism, India, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Naga, Nagaland, Tripura

India’s north-east corner consists of seven states* linked to the rest of the country by a narrow strip of land: tribal peoples there perceive themselves to be very different – in culture, identity, and even looks – from the rest of India. One state, Manipur, on the Myanmar border and . . . Read More

India’s Christians are under attack

September 11, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Hindu nationalism, Kandhamal, Madhya Pradesh, Naxalites, Odisha, Pune, Punjab, Raipur

Rahul Nayak, 25, the eldest son of Dhubaleswar and Bhubudi Nayak, a Christian couple shot dead in Odisha in July.Campaign Against Fabricated Cases The number of violent attacks on Christians and churches in India increased over the summer months. Below, World Watch Monitor lists 18 incidents from July, August and . . . Read More

Sixth Indian state seeks to adopt ‘anti-conversion law’

September 11, 2015 India Anti-conversion law, BJP, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Hindu nationalism, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha

A sixth Indian state is debating the introduction of an “anti-conversion law”. Maharashtra would follow Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh in implementing a Freedom of Religion Act, which seems harmless in name, but in practice discourages evangelism, as Vishal Arora reports in the video below. Learn more: . . . Read More

Maiduguri ‘open’ again despite renewed Boko Haram activity

September 10, 2015 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria

As General Buhari’s term in office as Nigeria’s President reached 100 days last Saturday, new figures show a surge to over 2.1m people displaced in the country’s six north-eastern states by Islamist violence. According to the Swiss-based International Organisation for Migration, a recent spike in attacks by Boko Haram insurgents . . . Read More

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