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Indian bishop: Hindu nationalists fear ‘another 1947’

August 10, 2017 India BJP, Dharm Jagran Samiti, Hindu nationalism, India, Pakistan

Church in central India destroyed by Hindu extremists (2015). They fear that if Christians grow in number and influence, there will be another Pakistan. (Photo: Open Doors International)

It is concern for the unity and integrity of India and the overwhelming fear of another split like the 1947 partition of Pakistan and India that drives the agenda of the Hindu nationalist movement in India, says Bishop Joseph D’Souza. The bishop, founding president of the ecumenical All India Christian . . . Read More

Christians in Yemen ‘persevering, not surviving’

August 10, 2017 Yemen Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Houthis, Islamic State, Sana'a, Yemen

Mosque in Yemen's capital Sana'a (2009). The country currently is estimated to be 99 percent Muslim and ruled by Sharia law and the targeted killing of Christians is a "surprisingly recent phenomenon". (Photo: Open Doors International)

The ongoing civil war in Yemen has claimed thousands of lives, but, away from the conflict, the country’s Christian minority has also faced targeted attacks by the insurgent Islamist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation, with 26 million people, is “the last bastion on . . . Read More

Cambodia to repatriate 13 Montagnards after failed asylum bids

August 10, 2017 Vietnam Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Central Highlands, Communism, Montagnards, Vietnam

Thirteen Montagnards are being sent back to Vietnam, after they were refused asylum in Cambodia. Thousands of Montagnards have fled their country to seek asylum in neighbouring countries since 2001, citing land expropriation and religious persecution. Many of the indigenous group, from Vietnam’s highlands, are Christians. The 13 were part of . . . Read More

Korean Peninsula a ‘powder keg that needs true peace’

August 9, 2017 South Korea North Korea, Seongju, South Korea, USA

A plaque showing the countries who were involved in the Korean War 1950 - 1953 can be seen at the North-South Korean border. (Photo: Open Doors International)

As the tension between the US and North Korea increases, the Korean Peninsula itself “is a powder keg ready to explode and cause another war”, warned Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-jong, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea, at an interfaith meeting in Seongju, South Korea, to commemorate the end . . . Read More

Central African Republic: ‘early warning signs of genocide’ warns UN aid chief

August 8, 2017 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Bangassou, Bangui, Bocaranga, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Genocide, Seleka, UN, Zemio

The UN has warned of the risk of genocide in the Central African Republic (CAR), saying the situation there has deteriorated in recent months. “Violence is intensifying, risking a repeat of the devastating destructive crisis that gripped the country four years ago… The early warning signs of a genocide are . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians returning to Nineveh Plains after 3 years ‘need protection’

August 7, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, USA

Iraqi women and children are demonstrating in front of the UN office in Erbil where they present a declaration to the UN calling for protection of minority groups on 13 August 2015. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Three years after Iraq’s Christians fled the Nineveh Plains, driven away by the Islamic State group, human rights lawyer Ewelina Ochab has charted the movements of the Christians and evaluated the likelihood that they will now return. A report published earlier this year showed that 50% of Iraq’s Christians have . . . Read More

Somaliland closes only Catholic church due to public pressure – it re-opened a week ago after 30 years

August 4, 2017 Somalia Africa, Catholics, Converts, East Africa, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Mogadishu, Somalia, Somaliland

The only Catholic church in Somaliland, East Africa, officially re-opened after three decades on 29 July, has been closed again within a week, due to public pressure. “The issue has created a lot of division … which is not in our national interest… The government has decided to respect the . . . Read More

Archbishop fears persistence of IS ideology despite military defeat

August 4, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Peshmerga

A former archbishop of Mosul has warned that the totalitarian ideology of the Islamic State (IS) group may continue despite the recent recapture of the city and its surrounding areas by Iraqi forces. Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona was among the thousands of Iraqi Christians who fled their homes in northern . . . Read More

Indonesia ‘to guarantee rights of religious minorities’

August 4, 2017 Indonesia Ahok, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama, Religious freedom, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Wreaths displayed to honor those killed in the suicide bomb attack in the Kampung Melayu bus terminal, East Jakarta on May 24 2017. Indonesia's image of a secular nation is under treat as it faces increased influence of extremist Islamist groups. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Indonesia is drafting a law that will guarantee the rights of religious minorities in the country, according to the head of the country’s Ministry of Religion’s Interfaith Harmony Forum. “The government [currently] only recognises six religions, while more than four million people who follow religions outside of those six are . . . Read More

India: another state expected to pass ‘anti-conversion law’

August 3, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Chhattisgarh, Dalits, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Protestants

The north-east Indian state of Jharkhand has cleared the draft of an “anti-conversion bill” that could mean four-year prison sentences and 100,000 rupee fines (US$1,500) for those found to have forced another person to change religions, reports The New Indian Express. If what has been dubbed the “Religious Freedom Bill . . . Read More

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Catching Our Eye

Catching Our Eye

Indian bishop: Hindu nationalists fear ‘another 1947’

Christians in Yemen ‘persevering, not surviving’

Cambodia to repatriate 13 Montagnards after failed asylum bids

Korean Peninsula a ‘powder keg that needs true peace’

Central African Republic: ‘early warning signs of genocide’ warns UN aid chief

Iraqi Christians returning to Nineveh Plains after 3 years ‘need protection’

Somaliland closes only Catholic church due to public pressure – it re-opened a week ago after 30 years

Archbishop fears persistence of IS ideology despite military defeat

Indonesia ‘to guarantee rights of religious minorities’

India: another state expected to pass ‘anti-conversion law’

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