Tag: Iraq

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

Iraq’s Mosul Archbishop had to pay ‘protection money’ before his 2008 kidnap and death

July 21, 2016 Iraq Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Kidnapping, Mosul, Quran, Saddam Hussein

The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, who was murdered by militias in 2008, paid protection money to safeguard his clergy for years before his kidnapping and death, an aide has told World Watch Monitor. Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho was abducted in February 2008 from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which . . . Read More

US ‘indifferent’ to oppressed Christians

July 12, 2016 Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Syria, USA, Yazidis

The United States government is afraid to work directly with persecuted Christians in places like Iraq and Syria lest it be deemed a “crusader army”, according to a leading American religious rights advocate. Up until the day before the U.S. State Department declared the atrocities of the so-called Islamic State . . . Read More

Pew reports decline in religious restrictions

June 28, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Religious freedom, Sub-Saharan Africa, Syria, Terrorism

In its latest report, Pew Research Center says there was an overall decline in religious restrictions and hostilities between 2013 and 2014, despite a continued rise in religion-related terrorism. The US-based “fact tank” ranked 198 countries and territories in the seventh report of its kind, titled “Trends in Global Restrictions . . . Read More

Iraq’s Christians ‘could be gone in 5 years’

May 16, 2016 Iraq Assyrians, Chaldeans, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Kirkuk, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains

ISIS’ jihadist actions mean Christians could disappear from Iraq in five years, says an Iraqi Assyrian priest. Fr. Martin Hermis Dawood told the Telegraph the latest phase of Islamic extremism has only precipitated the trend of Christians exiting their ancestral lands. “Everyone sees himself outside Iraq in a few years. . . . Read More

US religious-freedom report urges government to add 7 countries to worst-offenders list

May 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Africa, BJP, Boko Haram, Central African Republic, China, Egypt, Eritrea, Europe, India, Iraq, Middle East, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Taliban, Turkmenistan, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

What is happening? The primary US government agency on global religious freedom issued its annual report 2 May. It says “religious freedom abroad has been under serious and sustained assault” during the past year, and says America should add seven countries to its list of worst offenders: Central African Republic . . . Read More

IS destroys Christian landmark in Mosul

April 27, 2016 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Qaryatain, Syria

The ‘Islamic State’ has completely destroyed another historic Christian landmark in an area under its control, this time in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Quoting “local residents,” “the terrorists … blew the Clock Church fully after booby-trapping it from all sides and the evacuation of nearby houses in the . . . Read More

UK Parliament votes that Islamic State commits ‘genocide’

April 21, 2016 Europe, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Syria, UK

The UK Parliament has joined US Secretary of State John Kerry, US House of Representatives, the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in describing the actions of Islamic State (or Da’esh) as genocide. A motion, passed on Wed 20 April by 280 votes to 0, . . . Read More

REPORT: The impact of Christians leaving Middle East

April 18, 2016 Iraq, Islamic State, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

War and persecution has led to a haemorrhaging of Christians from the Middle East, particularly from Syria and Iraq. A new report highlights what the region stands to lose should Christians continue to leave. The report, compiled by a trio of Christian charities and a university, argues that Christians are an . . . Read More

Iraqi Christian militia fighting ISIS

April 11, 2016 Iraq Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains

A group of Christians in Iraq has formed its own militia to defend themselves against the so-called Islamic State, . The Babylon Brigade of the Iraq Christian Resistance, headquartered in Baghdad, is the only Christian militia among about 30 Shia and Sunni Muslim outfits that have sprung up over the . . . Read More

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