Tag: Europe

Religious persecution ‘central’ to refugee crisis

January 12, 2017 Afghanistan, Europe, India, Iraq, Libya, London, Nigeria, Pakistan, Refugees, Somalia, Syria

Religious persecution is playing a “central role” in the global displacement crisis, the charity Open Doors UK and Ireland has said. Refugees eating donated food outside a derelict warehouse in Belgrade, Serbia. According to Open Doors, more than half of the world’s 65.3m refugee population come from Somalia, Afghanistan and . . . Read More

‘We must distinguish between Islam and terrorism’

November 28, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Amman, Boko Haram, Europe, Fulani herdsmen, Hungary, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jacques Hamel, Jan Figel, Middle East, Nigeria, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Refugees, Religious freedom

Keeping the distinction between Islam and terrorism clear could prevent an ultimate ‘Clash of Civilisations’, an EU diplomat says. “All this hatred and bloodshed is a misuse of religion,” said Ján Figeľ, the European Commission’s first Special Envoy for the promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU. . . . Read More

Failure to bring IS to justice shows UN genocide conventions ‘obsolete’

November 28, 2016 Canada, Europe, Genocide, International Criminal Court, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Qaraqosh, Rwanda, Syria, UK, UN

The UN has broken the pledges it made in the aftermath of World War II to prevent genocide from recurring, said Ewelina Ochab.World Watch Monitor The UN must urgently put in place measures to hold to account jihadists who have committed atrocities against minorities in Iraq and Syria, because . . . Read More

Germany refugee centre an ‘example for others’ dealing with interfaith conflict

October 24, 2016 Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Refugees

A week after a new report claimed that life for some Christian refugees in Germany is “still unbearable“, a case study has been released as an example for other refugee centres to follow. The study, which profiles a refugee centre in the central German town of Rotenburg an der Fulda, . . . Read More

Life for some Christians in German refugee shelters ‘still unbearable’

October 17, 2016 Afghanistan, Angela Merkel, Chechnya, Eritrea, Europe, Germany, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

Mahan, 2, an Iranian Christian refugee who along with his parents is seeking asylum in Germany, peeks from behind a glass partition in the dining room at the Spreehotel refugee centre in January 2015 in Bautzen, Germany. About 200 refugees, many from Syria and Tunisia, but also from Chechnya, the . . . Read More

French church attack survivor describes ordeal

September 29, 2016 Europe, France, Islamic extremism, Jacques Hamel

An 87-year-old man forced to video the graphic murder of his priest in a church in northern France two months ago has spoken of his ordeal. Guy Coponet was stabbed three times – including once in the throat – and left for dead, after two young Islamists had used him . . . Read More

Hungary opens first ever office to tackle Christian persecution

September 16, 2016 Austria, Croatia, Europe, Hungary, Middle East, Poland, Viktor Orbán

As Europe’s leaders (minus the UK) meet in the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, the voice of the Eastern bloc* leaders is being heard more, even if it’s not always comfortable listening for Brussels’ Eurocrats. This week, Hungary, which has during the past year come under pressure for its handling of Europe’s . . . Read More

Eritrea begins European offensive in Germany

September 9, 2016 Eritrea Asylum seekers, Eritrea, Europe, Migrants, Refugees

Two Eritrean Ministers are in Germany at the start of a campaign to overcome European opposition to doing a deal with a government the UN labels “a serial abuser of human rights”; the UN says 5,000 people leave Eritrea every month. Eritrea, politically isolated for years, and often called the . . . Read More

More UK Muslim refugees convert to Christianity

July 25, 2016 Asylum seekers, Converts, Europe, Iran, UK

A church in the UK with a growing congregation of Muslim refugees seeking conversion to Christianity is a “microcosm of what is happening across churches in Europe” says . Muslim refugees across western Europe are “converting in ever greater numbers and for a complex array of reasons” – because of . . . Read More

Christian refugees in Europe still suffering

July 25, 2016 Afghanistan, Europe, France, Germany, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

, one of the US’s major producers and distributors of public radio programming, has interviewed Christians in German refugee centres – fleeing extremist violence in Iraq and Syria – who have reported intimidation from other refugees. Their programme built on research by Christian charity earlier this year. It found that . . . Read More

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