Tag: Somalia

Somaliland closes only Catholic church due to public pressure – it re-opened a week ago after 30 years

August 4, 2017 Somalia Africa, Catholics, Converts, East Africa, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Mogadishu, Somalia, Somaliland

The only Catholic church in Somaliland, East Africa, officially re-opened after three decades on 29 July, has been closed again within a week, due to public pressure. “The issue has created a lot of division … which is not in our national interest… The government has decided to respect the . . . Read More

‘Risk of genocide’ linked with level of religious freedom

July 25, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Genocide, Houthis, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, UN, Yemen

The civil war in Yemen has displaced over 3 million people like this woman who is sitting under a makeshift shelter at a camp for internally displaced persons in the northern district of Abs in Yemen's Hajjah province, on July 23, 2017 (Photo: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)

Yemen is the country where the risk of genocide, or mass killing, rose most last year, says Minority Rights Group International (MRG) in its 2017 Peoples Under Threat index, which also includes a large number of countries in which it is most difficult to live as a Christian. Nine of . . . Read More

More Christian than Muslim refugees in US under Trump, but fewer overall

July 14, 2017 Chaldeans, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Donald Trump, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Migrants, Mike Pence, Refugees, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, USA, Yemen

Christians account for a steadily growing share of refugee arrivals in the US, Pew Research has found, although the net number of Christian arrivals may in fact be shrinking. In its review of US State Department data, published on 12 July, Pew noticed a gradual increase in the numbers of . . . Read More

European migrant deals ‘could put victims of religious persecution at risk’

June 17, 2017 Afghanistan, Converts, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Europe, Migrants, Pakistan, Refugees, Somalia, Sudan

Iranian migrants line up for prayer alongside other members of the congregation at the Dk Live church in Dunkirk

New deals aimed at reducing the number of migrants reaching Europe’s shores could endanger the lives of people fleeing religious persecution, the European Evangelical Alliance (EEA) has warned. The Partnership Framework on Migration was launched last year as the European Commission’s response to member states’ requests for a strategic approach . . . Read More

Al-Shabaab sex-slave programme to ‘breed next generation of fighters’

May 31, 2017 Kenya Al-Shabaab, Garissa, Mombasa, Somalia, Women

A Kenyan woman searching for her two brothers, suspected of joining the Al-Qaeda-affiliated militants Al-Shabaab, has discovered that women are being seized and trafficked by the group as sex slaves. Her findings are revealed in the BBC report, The sex slaves of al-Shabab. During her search, Salama Ali uncovered stories . . . Read More

African mission leader searches for positives despite deadly surge of jihadist violence

May 30, 2017 Africa, Boko Haram, Burkina Faso, Europe, Garissa, Gloria Argoti, Islamic extremism, Ivory Coast, Jeff Woodke, Ken Elliott, Lagos, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia

Attacks attributed to radical Islamic groups are happening on a weekly, or even daily, basis in Africa, posing security concerns across a vast swathe of the continent. The phenomenon has dramatically affected Church activities in various regions. But Rev. Reuben E. Ezemadu, Coordinator of the Movement for African National Initiatives . . . Read More

Islamist extremism: a growing phenomenon in East Africa

April 5, 2017 Al-Shabaab, East Africa, Islamic extremism, Salafism, Somalia

Islamist extremism in East Africa frequently centres on Somalia and the violent actions of Al-Shabaab, yet local adherents to extremist versions of Islam can now be found throughout East Africa, reveals the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies, in a new report. The growth of the Salafist ideology in the region has . . . Read More

Pledges to avert famine for 3m in Lake Chad region

February 28, 2017 Boko Haram, Borno, Lake Chad, Nigeria, Norway, Somalia, UN, Yemen

Only a third of the $1.5bn in emergency funding sought by the UN this year to prevent a famine in parts of northern Nigeria and neighbouring areas of the Lake Chad region has been raised at a summit in Oslo. Aid agencies must get food to almost 3 million by . . . Read More

Middle East faith & money toxic for Horn of Africa

February 15, 2017 Africa, Al-Shabaab, Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, Eritrea, Houthis, Islamic extremism, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sufi, United Arab Emirates, Wahhabism, Yemen

There’s a long-standing connection between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, shaped by trade and faith. Former BBC Africa Editor Martin Plaut explores this relationship, which has caused increased tensions between and within the countries in the Horn, and which has affected the Christians there badly. Over centuries, . . . Read More

Presidential change in Somalia unlikely to improve situation for Christian minority

February 8, 2017 Somalia Al-Shabaab, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Mogadishu, Somalia

Air traffic over Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, was halted today (8 Feb) as MPs and senators gathered at the airport to elect former Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo as the country’s new president. Newly elected President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo is Somalia’s former Prime Minister (2012 photo). The outgoing president, Hassan Sheikh . . . Read More

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