General

Pakistan expels South Korean for ‘illegal preaching’ after murder of Chinese ‘missionaries’

June 21, 2017 Pakistan Balochistan, China, Islamic State, Lee Zingyang, Meng Lisi, Quetta, South Korea

Pakistan has ordered a South Korean man to leave the country, accusing him of involvement in “illegal preaching activities”, after two of his students at an Urdu-language school were abducted and killed by the Islamic State group, which claimed they had been secretly preaching Christianity. “Investigations have revealed that [Juan . . . Read More

For Egypt’s Copts, if it isn’t extremism, it’s sectarianism

June 21, 2017 Egypt Islamic State, Minya, Religious freedom

Last Friday (16 June), the Coptic community in Saft el-Khirsa, 180km south of Cairo, woke up to find their three-storey community centre had been broken into and sealed off by police, and their furniture, rugs and religious icons were lying on the street outside. The building had been allocated to . . . Read More

Anger and tears as Otto ‘completes his journey home’

June 20, 2017 North Korea Donald Trump, Hyeon Soo Lim, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, Kim Seung-mo, Otto Warmbier, Pyongyang, Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, Tony Kim

The family of 22-year-old Otto Warmbier confirmed his death yesterday (19 June), just a week after he was released, in a coma, from 15 months’ detention in North Korea. In a statement, the family said it was their “sad duty to report that our son, Otto Warmbier, has completed his . . . Read More

Iraq: Karamles residents face fears as they begin rebuilding

June 19, 2017 Iraq Islamic State, Karamles, Mosul

Father Thabet looks at remains of what was once the home he grew up in. (Photo: Open Doors International)

As Iraqi government forces drive Islamic State militants from their last stronghold in the city of Mosul, the residents of Karamles, a town 30km to the east which was liberated six months ago, are returning to rebuild their homes. The government has ordered the local school to be reopened after . . . Read More

India’s Christian leaders distance themselves from ruling Hindu nationalists

June 19, 2017 India Beef, BJP, Digital India Day, Good Governance Day, Hindu nationalism, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Narendra Modi

The leaders of India’s Christian minority – 2.3 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion population – have distanced themselves from rumours of increasingly close ties with the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP. The latest rumours began following a meeting between senior Catholic Church leaders and the BJP’s national president, Amit Shah, . . . Read More

European migrant deals ‘could put victims of religious persecution at risk’

June 17, 2017 Afghanistan, Converts, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Migrants, Pakistan, Refugees, Somalia, Sudan

Iranian migrants line up for prayer alongside other members of the congregation at the Dk Live church in Dunkirk

New deals aimed at reducing the number of migrants reaching Europe’s shores could endanger the lives of people fleeing religious persecution, the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has warned. The Partnership Framework on Migration was launched last year as the European Commission’s response to member states’ requests for a strategic approach . . . Read More

Eritrea arrests another 22 Christians

June 16, 2017 Eritrea Abune Antonios, Adi Quala, Asmara, Pentecostals

The number of Eritrean Christians arrested since the beginning of May has risen to more than 120, according to charities Open Doors and Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). World Watch Monitor first reported on the fresh wave of arrests on 26 May, at which stage over 90 people had been arrested. . . . Read More

Aged four and scarred for life: the children who survived Indonesian church attack

June 16, 2017 Indonesia Borneo, Samarinda, Sumatra, Trauma

*Warning: Readers may find images upsetting. Two-year-old Anita Sihotang cannot bear the sound of her father’s motorbike because it reminds her of the noise of the explosion last November, when a petrol bomb was thrown into a church park where children were playing, killing one child and seriously injuring Anita . . . Read More

Vietnamese pastor punished for ‘reports’ to US diplomats; Catholic blogger to be expelled to France

June 15, 2017 Vietnam Cambodia, Central Highlands, Communism, Ho Chi Minh City, Montagnards, Nguyen Cong Chinh, Thailand, USA

Pastor Nguyen Cong Chinh was released early in a deal that saw him leave the country. (Photo: USCIRF)

A pastor imprisoned in south-east Vietnam is being further punished for telling a visiting U.S. diplomatic delegation about abuses he has suffered. Nguyen Cong Chinh, serving an 11-year sentence for “undermining national solidarity” by religious activities with ethnic groups in the Central Highlands, met US consular officials in Ho Chi . . . Read More

Iraqi senior cleric shown calling for Christians to ‘convert, pay tax or be killed’

June 14, 2017 Iraq Baghdad, Converts, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jizya

A video showing a call for jihad from a senior Iraqi Shi’ite cleric has caused anger among Iraqi Christians. The undated footage shows Sheikh Alaa Al-Mousawi, head of the Shia Endowment, a government body that looks after Iraq’s Shia holy sites, describing Christians as “infidels”, saying “either they should convert . . . Read More

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