Tag: Assyrians

Mosul still ‘extremely dangerous’, says returning Christian woman

March 13, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Churches, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul

Nadia Butti, a Christian woman from Mosul, found the churches of her city desecrated or demolished after returning home for the first time since the liberation of the city from the Islamic State group in July 2017, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports. She told ACN there were . . . Read More

Iraq: Christian family stabbed to death in Baghdad

March 12, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Baghdad, Iraq

An Assyrian Christian family of three were murdered in their home in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, last Thursday (8 March). Dr. Hisham Shafiq al-Maskuni, 61, a radiologist at a nuns’ hospital, his wife Dr. Shaza Malik Dinno, gynaecologist at the same hospital, and her elderly mother, . . . Read More

Lives in limbo – Iraqi Christians’ long wait for asylum in Lebanon

November 8, 2017 Lebanon Armenians, Assyrians, Asylum seekers, Beirut, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Lebanon, Middle East, Refugees, Syria, Trauma, UN

Petros Babayan strains to sit up as if each bone of his paper-thin frame were heavy as iron. His wife Lydia and adult daughter Rita rush to help him. In their tiny rented apartment in Beirut, his single bed takes up a quarter of the room in which they live . . . Read More

Iran MPs want to change law so people can only vote for candidates from their own religion

November 3, 2017 Iran Armenians, Assyrians, Ayatollah Khomeini, Elections, Iran, Minorities, Sepanta Niknam, Sharia, Yazd, Zoroastrians

Conservative MPs within Iran’s parliament are proposing that Iranians should only be allowed to vote for members of their own religious group. In Iran, where 90-95% of the population is Shia Muslim, this will essentially mean that it will be impossible for members of religious minorities to be elected. The . . . Read More

Iran: another Christian convert ‘arrested, beaten and told to renounce faith’

October 23, 2017 Iran Abdol-Ali Pourmand, Armenians, Assyrians, Converts, Dezful, Hassan Rouhani, Iran, Khuzestan, Mohammed Ali Torabi

An Iranian convert to Christianity has been arrested in the western city of Dezful, the fourth such convert arrested in the city in recent weeks. Abdol-Ali Pourmand was arrested on Saturday (21 October) after a raid on his home two days before, during which materials including Bibles and Christian CDs . . . Read More

More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others – Pew Research Center

October 5, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Apostasy, Armenians, Assyrians, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Central Asia, China, Comoros, Converts, Cuba, India, Iran, Islamic extremism, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Maldives, Mauritania, Middle East, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Africa, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam

Over 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians fear Kurdish agenda behind removal of mayor

July 28, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Assyrians, Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Syria

Assyrians protest in Alqosh against the removal of the Assyrian mayor by the Kurdish Regional Government. (Photo: AINA)

Iraqi Christians are increasingly fearful that the recent ousting of a Christian mayor by a pro-Kurdish council is evidence of a Kurdish agenda to usurp control of northern Christian-majority towns. Fayez Abed Jawahreh, the mayor of Alqosh, a Chaldean-majority town, was dismissed from office on 16 July by Bashar Al . . . Read More

Why Iranian Christians are pinning hopes on ‘moderate’ Rouhani, despite human rights failures

May 19, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Armenians, Assyrians, Ayatollah Khamenei, Hassan Rouhani, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tehran, Victor Bet-Tamraz

As Iranians head to the polls today (19 May) to vote for their next President, World Watch Monitor takes a look at President Hassan Rouhani’s first term in office and the potential impact of the election result for the country’s Christian minority. Hassan Rouhani was voted in four years ago, . . . Read More

Trump travel ban dints Iraqi Christians’ support

February 23, 2017 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Donald Trump, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kurds, USA

Iraqi Christians who backed the candidacy of Donald Trump have become disillusioned with his presidency since his executive order barred Iraqis, along with citizens of six other Muslim-majority countries, from entering the US. Many Iraqi minorities supported Trump because of his anti-Islamic State rhetoric. The Assyrian Church of the East’s . . . Read More

Iranians end hunger strike

February 17, 2017 Iran Amin Afshar Naderi, Amir Saman Dashti, Armenians, Assyrians, Ebrahim Firouzi, Hadi Asgari, Mohammad Dehnavi, Mohammad Reza Omidi, Ramil Bet-Tamraz, Saheb Fadaie, Tehran, Yasser Mossayebzadeh, Youcef Nadarkhani

Amin Afshar Naderi, left, and Hadi Asgari began their hunger strike on 5 February.Article 18 UPDATE (17 Feb) Two imprisoned Iranian Christians have ended their hunger strike after being promised medical care and progress in their case. Amin Afshar Naderi and Hadi Asgari, both of whom had reportedly suffered . . . Read More

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