Tag: Converts

Religious minorities’ struggles the focus of Morocco conference

November 17, 2017 Morocco Converts, Greek Orthodox, Islamic extremism, King Mohammed VI, Minorities, Morocco, Rabat, Religious freedom, Sunni

Square next to the Hassan II Mosque in the city of Casablanca in 2010. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A conference taking place in Rabat, Morocco, tomorrow (18 November) will focus on the problems religious minorities are facing in the Muslim-majority country. Muslims account for 99 per cent of the population, according to US Department of State figures, and the remaining 1 per cent experience “marginalisation and exclusion”, according . . . Read More

The ‘remarkable religious transformation’ of Vietnam’s Hmong

November 16, 2017 Vietnam Central Highlands, Converts, Hmong, Religion Law, Vietnam

Christianity started spreading among the Hmong in the highlands of northwest and central Vietnam in the late 1980s through a Hmong-language Christian radio program broadcast from Manila and has led to “a remarkable religious transformation … in the past three decades”, according to academic Seb Rumsby, writing for The Diplomat. Among . . . Read More

Iran: appeal due for Christians given 10 years for ‘missionary activities’

November 9, 2017 Iran Bahram Nasibov, Converts, Eldar Gurbanov, House churches, Iran, Naser Navard Gol-Tapeh, Religious freedom, Tehran, Yusif Farhadov

The appeal hearings will take place on Sunday (12 November) for an Iranian and three Azerbaijani Christians sentenced in May to 10 years in prison for “missionary activities” and “actions against national security” in Iran. The three Azerbaijanis – Eldar Gurbanov, Yusif Farhadov and Bahram Nasibov – were allowed to . . . Read More

Nepal PM ‘commits to address’ Christian concerns ahead of elections

November 8, 2017 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Converts, Elections, Hindu nationalism, Minorities, Nepal

Nepal’s Prime Minister has committed to addressing the Christian community’s concerns over religious freedoms, reports Asia News. Christians are thought to account for around 4 per cent of the population. Dinesh Bhattarai, advisor to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, said the commitment “will be immediately put into practice and everything . . . Read More

Iran: another Christian convert ‘arrested, beaten and told to renounce faith’

October 23, 2017 Iran Abdol-Ali Pourmand, Armenians, Assyrians, Converts, Dezful, Hassan Rouhani, Iran, Khuzestan, Mohammed Ali Torabi

An Iranian convert to Christianity has been arrested in the western city of Dezful, the fourth such convert arrested in the city in recent weeks. Abdol-Ali Pourmand was arrested on Saturday (21 October) after a raid on his home two days before, during which materials including Bibles and Christian CDs . . . Read More

Iran: arrests of Christian converts continue

October 17, 2017 Iran Converts, Dezful, Iran, Mohammed Ali Torabi, Tehran

Five more Iranian converts to Christianity have been arrested in recent weeks, three of whom are still being detained. Church leader Mohammed Ali Torabi, 39, was arrested on 10 October in the western city of Dezful, and is being held in an unknown location. Two other converts were arrested alongside . . . Read More

EU ‘wilfully blind’ to risks of deporting Christian converts back to Afghanistan

October 6, 2017 Afghanistan Afghanistan, Apostasy, Asylum seekers, Converts, Islamic extremism, Kabul, Migrants, Refugees

European countries and the EU are “wilfully blind” to the risks facing Afghans who fail in their asylum claims and are sent home, according to a new report by Amnesty International. “All returnees face a real risk of serious human rights violations,” says Amnesty, but some, such as religious minorities . . . Read More

More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others – Pew Research Center

October 5, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Apostasy, Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Central Asia, China, Comoros, Converts, Cuba, India, Iran, Islamic extremism, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Middle East, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Over 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 . . . Read More

India: yoga centre accused of forcibly reconverting women and girls to Hinduism

September 29, 2017 India Anti-conversion law, Converts, Ghar Wapsi, Hindu nationalism, India, Kerala, Kochi, Pune, Women

Police in the south-western Indian state of Kerala have launched an investigation into a complaint by a woman in her twenties who says she was detained and harassed for 22 days at a yoga centre because she had married a Christian, according to The Times of India. A case was . . . Read More

India: church fire attack in Karnataka

September 26, 2017 India Converts, India, Karnataka

A church that opened three years ago in the south-west Indian state of Karnataka has been broken into and its contents destroyed in an intentional fire, reports Global Christian News. The leader of the Shalom Assembly of God Church, Pastor Vaddar Nagaraja, said that all the items in the church, . . . Read More

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