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Cambodia to repatriate 13 Montagnards after failed asylum bids

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Cambodia to repatriate 13 Montagnards after failed asylum bids
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

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

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

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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

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

Indonesia ‘to guarantee rights of religious minorities’

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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’

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India: another state expected to pass 'anti-conversion law'
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