Tag: Syria

UK Foreign Office hosts global summit on freedom of religion or belief

October 27, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Bangladesh, China, Eritrea, Iran, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kazakhstan, London, Lord Alton, Myanmar, North Korea, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates

“Religious freedom can counter violent extremism” was the key message at a two-day global conference held at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) last week. The conference explored ways to build resilience against extremism and identified opportunities for collaboration. More than 50 expert speakers and over 170 participants from . . . Read More

‘Accelerated targeting’ of ‘disproportionately suffering’ Middle East Christians

October 18, 2016 Iraq Iraq, Middle East, Syria

The Middle East, the historic cradle of Christianity, is today witnessing an accelerated “targeting” of its remaining Christians, according to a report aiming to rally world attention to threats facing ancient communities in Syria and Iraq. “Civil war in Syria and Iraq has unleashed a tidal wave of violent persecution. . . . Read More

ISIS defeated at ‘apocalyptic’ battleground, Dabiq

October 18, 2016 Syria Al-Qaeda, Dabiq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Prophet Muhammad, Syria

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels have recaptured the symbolically important Syrian town of Dabiq from the Islamic State (IS). A commander from the Hamza Brigade rebel group told the Associated Press resistance from IS was “minimal”. Dabiq holds major significance for IS as the location of a prophesied battle it . It’s . . . 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

‘Apocalyptic’ battle for Dabiq, Syria ‘imminent’

October 4, 2016 Syria Al-Qaeda, Dabiq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Prophet Muhammad, Syria

US-backed Syrian rebels are reported to be closing in on the northern Syrian town of Dabiq, which holds major significance for ISIS as the location of a prophesied battle it believes will lead to the end of the world. It’s about 40km (25 miles) north-east of Aleppo and 10km (6.2km) . . . Read More

Kurdish YPG ‘occupy’ Assyrian villages in northeast Syria

October 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hasakah, Islamic State, Khabur, Kurds, Syria

As fighting intensifies to retake areas of north-eastern Syria from the so-called Islamic State (IS), the media spotlight shows the complexity of the military picture. The Khabur River region in Syria’s Hasakah province was attacked by IS in February 2015. Thirty-five Assyrian villages were emptied; days later IS kidnapped and . . . Read More

Survivors’ stories: life after Islamic State violence

September 28, 2016 Erbil, Iraq, Lebanon, Mosul, New York, Refugees, Syria, UN

The New York Declaration for more humane treatment of refugees, made on 19 September at the 70th UN General Assembly, will be welcomed by the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Syrians, including many Christians, living in displacement camps or with relatives, after fleeing the conflict with so-called Islamic State . . . Read More

Kurds ‘expel Christians’ in Hassaka

September 23, 2016 Syria Aleppo, Churches, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

Christians are being targeted as Kurdish militia assert their control in Syria’s north-eastern city of Hassaka, a senior local Christian leader has said. “Whenever the Kurdish militia enter in action to reaffirm its military hegemony over the city, the epicentre of their raids and acts of force is always the . . . Read More

Freedom of religion or belief ‘the defining issue of our time’

September 16, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Angela Merkel, Boko Haram, Canada, Copts, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic State, Jan Figel, Kandhamal, Myanmar, New York, North Korea, Norway, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia, Shahzad Masih, Shama Bibi, Syria

Over 100 parliamentarians from 60 countries met this week in Berlin for a series of workshops and seminars under the title, “An Embattled Right: Protecting and Promoting Freedom of Religion of Belief”. The second conference of this size after last year’s meeting in New York, it was organised by the . . . Read More

Only 0.5% Syrian refugees now in US are Christian

September 7, 2016 Syria Iraq, Islamic State, Lebanon, Refugees, Syria, USA

Christians were a meagre half-percent of the Syrian refugees welcomed to the United States in 2016, according to a report researched by Fox News. The figure, representing a minority group Washington has already described as subject to genocide, contrasts sharply with last year’s estimated 10% Christian population of Syria. Since . . . Read More

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