In the midst of the civil war, churches and Christian-owned businesses have been targets of bombings by the Islamic State and other extremist groups, and there have been many reports of Christians being abducted, harmed and killed. Even so, many of Syria’s remaining Christians are committed to staying and rebuilding their country. Others are now returning home following IS’s military defeat.
Syria: Homs Christians return to rebuild homes and lives
Syrians who fled the city of Homs five years ago are slowly returning to rebuild their homes and lives. Much of Syria’s third largest city has been destroyed, but Maha says she is just “so happy” to be back. With her husband and her sister, she recently returned to live […]
IS recaptures ‘symbol of interfaith coexistence’ Syrian town
Islamic State (IS) jihadists have regained control of a town believed to be home to hundreds of Christian families. The group launched a surprise attack on the town of Al-Qaryatain, which was being guarded by government forces, early on Sunday. The town, in the central province of Homs, is known […]
Seven Christians smuggled out of IS-held Raqqa
Kurdish-led forces in Syria rescued seven Christians from IS-held Raqqa on Tuesday (8 August). “Our forces have saved two Armenian families,” said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen and Circassian militias. The Syriac Military Council (SMC), a member of […]
Why Syrian and Iraqi Christians eye different futures
Iraqi Christians who decide to flee the Middle East feel they have no future there, whereas Syrian Christians wish to return home because they believe they have a future there under President Bashar Al-Assad. That is the view of human rights lawyer and genocide expert Ewelina Ochab, who has interviewed […]
Security not only concern for Syrians returning home
As Islamic State forces are pushed back and more areas declared “safe”, Syrians are starting to return to their homes. According to the UN’s Refugee Agency (the UNHCR), nearly half a million have gone back since January. Around 440,000 internally displaced people, and more than 31,000 refugees who had fled […]
Syriac Christians in front line in battle against IS in Raqqa
While the battle for Raqqa is raging on, Syriac Christians are among those on the frontline. They say they are fighting to liberate all Syrians but also “because Islamic State militants destroyed churches and forced Christians to convert to Islam”, reports Al-Monitor. Abboud Seryan and his colleague Aleksan Chmou are […]
Four years on still no news of kidnapped Syrian bishops
At the fourth anniversary of their disappearance the whereabouts of two Syrian bishops is still unknown. Syriac Orthodox Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Boulos Yazigi were abducted on 22 April 2013. Several attempts to locate them have been so far unsuccessful. According to Asia News, Mgr Daniel Kourie, Syriac […]
Young Syrian tells how he survived ‘worst-case scenario’ of kidnap and torture by Islamic State
Meghrik was kidnapped and tortured by Islamic State before his release. Photo: December 2016.World Watch Monitor Meghrik* was on a bus when it happened. He was travelling from Aleppo to Al-Qamishli in the north east of Syria, a seven-hour journey even before the war started. Now war means there […]
Christian hostages reveal Syrian ransom saga
Former Islamic State hostages have revealed that , launched by a Syrian bishop who rallied the Assyrian Christian diaspora around the world. , the Assyrian Christians were handled roughly and harassed repeatedly to convert to Islam. They expected to die, but within a week the IS militants sent 17 Assyrians […]
‘Coming back’ – a poem scribbled on a church wall in Homs
Time has almost faded the message written on a church wall in Homs by someone who, like thousands of others, presumably had to flee the city quickly for safety or survival. The Syrian city, 166km north of Damascus, was soon taken over by Islamic fighters. Fierce fighting made living in […]