Tag: Minorities

‘Being Burmese means being Buddhist’ – pastor explains discrimination faced by Christians in Myanmar

September 17, 2018 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Chin, Minorities, Myanmar

The discrimination a Christian can meet on a daily basis in Myanmar is explained by Tun from the Chin ethnic minority. He left his town in Chin state and moved his family to another area to pastor a small group of Christians in a predominantly Buddhist village. His name is . . . Read More

‘Not all incidents are religiously motivated’ – Pakistan professor

September 17, 2018 Pakistan Blasphemy, Islamic extremism, Karachi, Minorities, Pakistan

Sabir Michael (YouTube / Academy for Cultural Diplomacy)

A Pakistani professor has warned that some social media activists and religious leaders are falsely portraying incidents as religiously motivated to stoke intolerance, reports UCAN. Sabir Michael, assistant professor at the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology in Karachi, cited three recent incidents that he said were reported . . . Read More

Fall in Christian refugee admissions ‘suggests Trump has no real interest in religious persecution’

September 13, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Donald Trump, Genocide, Iraq, Jan Figel, Mike Pence, Minorities, Myanmar, Refugees, Syria, UK, UN, USA

Iraqi Christians who fled Islamic State have found shelter in a church yard in Erbil, Iraq. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The United States, under President Trump, has admitted 40 per cent fewer Christian refugees in the past year, US broadcaster NBC News has reported. As the Trump administration has implemented stricter policies on immigration and refugees, almost 11,000 Christians looking for a safe place to go were reportedly refused entry to . . . Read More

Myanmar: Peace talks for settling conflict with majority-Christian ethnic groups

September 10, 2018 Myanmar Buddhist nationalism, Cardinal Bo, Chin, Kachin, Minorities, Myanmar, Religious freedom

Myanmar’s Peace Commission has held a meeting in China with the representatives of three ethnic armed groups fighting the Myanmar Armed Forces along the country’s northern border, AsiaNews reports. The Ta’ang National Liberation Army, Arakan Army and Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army are part of the Northern Alliance, which also . . . Read More

EU should ‘put people of the world’ first in quest for religious freedom – report

September 6, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-conversion law, Asia Bibi, Blasphemy, Europe, India, Jan Figel, Minorities, Pakistan, Religious freedom

Members of the European Parliament (EP) have called on the EU to “put the people of the world before our financial and political interests”, in a report about religious freedom. The Annual Report on Freedom of Religion or Belief 2017, presented by the EP Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or . . . Read More

Thailand called to release detained Vietnamese Montagnard refugees

September 3, 2018 Asylum seekers, Cambodia, Children, Hmong, Minorities, Montagnards, Refugees, Religious freedom, Thailand, Vietnam

The Montagnard-people are persecuted because of their faith but getting asylum in neighbouring countries is difficult. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Thailand should release the group of ethnic minority refugees and asylum seekers, mostly Christians, arrested last week during a crackdown just outside the capital Bangkok, rights groups say. Most of the 181 refugees detained are Montagnards, an indigenous group from Vietnam who face “harsh persecution if they are returned to . . . Read More

‘Disappeared’ lawyer receives award for dedication to China’s religious freedom

August 31, 2018 China China, Gao Zhisheng, Human rights, Minorities, Religious freedom

A Chinese human rights lawyer who fell foul of the authorities for his support of oppressed communities, including Christians, was awarded the Shahbaz Bhatti Freedom Award on 29 August, the Epoch Times reports. The whereabouts of the lawyer, Gao Zhisheng, have not been publicly known since August 2017, so the . . . Read More

Historic link shown between economic stress and violence to minorities

August 24, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Europe, Minorities

A Christian farming community in Kandhamal is vulnerable to not just economic shocks but also violence. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

There is a connection between economic stress and the violence directed at minority groups, says Mark Koyam, Assistant Professor in Economics at the US-based George Mason University. His research shows “that economic insecurity and weak political institutions give rise to persecution and violence against minority groups”, he explains in a . . . Read More

Religious freedom violations in Asia increasing – UN rapporteur

August 24, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Ahmed Shaheed, Asia, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, India, Islamic State, Maldives, Minorities, Religious freedom, Southeast Asia

Pakistani Christians experience an increase in violence such as a suicide attack on the Bethel Methodist Church in Quetta in December last year that killed more than ten and injured dozens of people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Religious freedom in Asia is “eroding”, with an increase in religious fundamentalism across much of the continent, according to the UN’s religious freedom rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed. Shaheed spoke during an event, hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club in Thailand’s capital Bangkok, on the back of the 4th Southeast Asia Freedom of Religion or Belief Conference. “Freedom . . . Read More

‘ISIS won despite defeat as West was unwilling to confront it’

August 23, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Andrew Brunson, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Minorities, Rape, Syria, Turkey, USA

Iraqi Christians ask the international community for help as they are facing annihilation by Islamic State. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Islamic State group may have been defeated on the battlefield, but the West has allowed its ideology to “percolate” and in that case it won, writes Seth J. Frantzman for the Jerusalem Post. “[ISIS] won in Iraq and Syria by destroying minority communities. It won because today the international . . . Read More

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