Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011, Libya has been reduced to chaos, with Islamist groups filling the power vacuum left by the former dictator. It was in Libya in February 2015 that 20 Egyptian Copts and a Ghanaian were beheaded by the Islamic State group. Only a tiny fraction of Libya’s estimated 20,000 Christians are Libyans – most are migrants from sub-Saharan Africa. They are allowed to meet in churches, but Libyans are not. Migrants stranded in Libya are vulnerable to pressure and violence; Christian migrants are extra vulnerable.

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Libya: bodies of beheaded Copts found

Libya: bodies of beheaded Copts found

Libya has officially confirmed it has found the bodies of the 20 Coptic Christians beheaded by the Islamic State group in February 2015, reports Agenzia Fides. The 20 Egyptians and one Ghanaian were found close to where they were executed on a beach in the coastal city of Sirte, according […]

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ISIL in Libya kidnaps more Christians

The Islamic State has released news that it kidnapped three African Christians in Libya, says Reuters. In a statement on social media, IS said the men are from Egypt, Nigeria and Ghana. The group published the men’s passport pictures for verification. They are believed to have been captured around 11 […]

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86 Eritrean Christians kidnapped by ISIS

Islamic State has kidnapped 86 Eritrean Christians in Libya, including 12 women, according to the Stockholm-based International Commission on Eritrean Refugees (ICER). The militants ambushed a vehicle carrying Eritrean refugees to Tripoli, before separating out the Christians from the Muslims by testing their knowledge of the Quran. Meron Estefanos, a […]

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Libya: ‘a country where Christians shouldn’t come’

Libya: ‘a country where Christians shouldn’t come’

Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has been engulfed by conflicts between various coalitions of armed groups.Photo courtesy Open Doors International Migrants and refugees in Libya are increasingly facing widespread abuse and persecution on religious grounds, a report by Amnesty International has revealed. Foreign nationals travelling irregularly […]

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30 Ethiopian Christians executed by IS

Islamic State released a video on Sunday showing what is believed to be the execution of about 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya. The 29-minute-long footage, in which the militants call Christians ‘crusaders’ who are out to kill Muslims, shows one group of men being beheaded on a beach and a […]

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Another Copt beheaded in Libya

Libyan security forces have found the beheaded body of another Egyptian Coptic Christian, Egypt’s official Middle East News Agency reports. Discovered Mar. 2 on the outskirts of Mechili town in eastern Libya, the body was identified by his cousins as Mansour Saad Awad, who had been working at a poultry […]

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Libyan militants hold 20 Egyptian Christians hostage

Libyan militants hold 20 Egyptian Christians hostage

Coptic families in Upper Egypt’s Minya province await news on their kidnapped relatives in Libya, January 2015.Photo: Watani The kidnapping of at least 20 Coptic Christians in two separate incidents in December and January has been claimed by Libyan militants affiliated with the self-proclaimed Islamic State. Seven of the Christians […]

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