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‘ISIS won despite defeat as West was unwilling to confront it’

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Iraqi Christians ask the international community for help as they are facing annihilation by Islamic State. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
The Islamic State group may have been defeated on the battlefield, but the West has allowed its ideology to “percolate” and in that case it won, writes Seth J. Frantzman for the Jerusalem Post. “[ISIS] won in Iraq and Syria by destroying minority communities. It won because today the international . . . Read More

China’s head of religious affairs warns of ‘domination’ by ‘foreign forces’

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People leaving the church after a service in Shenyang, north-eastern Dongguang province. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)
China’s head of religious affairs has warned that the country’s religious groups must not be “dominated” by “foreign forces”, reports Reuters. “There is no affiliate relationship between our country’s religions and foreign religions. Our country’s religious groups and religious matters do not accept domination by foreign forces,” the religious affairs . . . Read More

US imposes sanctions on Myanmar for ‘widespread human rights abuses’

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Since fighting flared up in Kachin state in April thousands of people have fled their homes and, like these women, found refuge in temporary shelters at church compounds in Kachin's capital Myitkyina.(Photo: YE AUNG THU/AFP/Getty Images)
The US government announced on Friday that it had imposed sanctions on Myanmar for “widespread human rights abuses” against Christians, Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minorities, reports The New York Times. According to the Treasury Department the abuses against Rohingya Muslims in southwestern Rakhine state, forcing more than 700,000 to seek . . . Read More

Chinese church closures, demolitions continue

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Remainders of the Catholic church in Qianwang, Licheng district, after it was razed to the ground.. (Photo: still from video)
More than 20 churches have been closed this year in China’s north-western city of Xining and to prevent further closures the government should quickly approve applications of churches that want to become state-approved, says Wang Ruiqin, associate secretary-general of the state-aligned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and China Christian Council (CCC). . . . Read More

Syria’s Christian villages ‘hollowed out’ by IS

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Before the war there were many churches in the area around Hassaka who held regular services, like this one in Tel Jezirah. (Photo: World Watch Monitor, 2009)
The Islamic State, following its defeat in Syria, has left behind hollowed-out Christian villages, reports the New York Times. Assyrian Christians, an indigenous Middle Eastern minority, once formed thriving farming communities along the Khabur River in Syria’s northeast. But when IS attacked the area in 2015, the militants demolished churches and kidnapped . . . Read More

Pakistani Christian assembly member vows to protect rights of religious minorities

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A Pakistani Christian recently elected onto his provincial assembly has vowed to “protect the rights of all religious minorities”, reports not-for-profit Christians in Pakistan. Anthony Naveed, who was elected to the Sindh Assembly in last month’s elections, told media he will “try my best to promote the rights of various . . . Read More