Tag: Germany

Half of Syria and Iraq’s Christians have left since 2011, says report

June 6, 2017 Europe, Germany, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Migrants, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Refugees, Sweden, Syria, Turkey

Three years to the day since the Islamic State group took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul, a new report estimates that – of their Christian populations – 50% have left Iraq since 2006, while 80% have emigrated from Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011. The arrival of IS was only . . . Read More

Afghan Christian woman stabbed to death in Germany

May 11, 2017 Afghanistan, Asylum seekers, Converts, Germany, Refugees

Police are investigating a possible religious motivation behind the murder of an Afghan Christian woman in the Bavarian town of Prien, southern Germany. The 38 year-old mother, known only as FS, was with two of her children when she was stabbed outside a supermarket on 29 April. She later died of her . . . Read More

Iranian and Afghan Christian converts face deportation from Germany after ‘clueless’ questioning

January 16, 2017 Afghanistan, Apostasy, Asylum seekers, Baptism, Berlin, Converts, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Islamic extremism, Pakistan, Protestants, Refugees, UK

An Iranian convert to Christianity attends a course in Berlin preparing him for baptism. Germany’s Ministry for Immigration and Refugees (BAMF) is rejecting many applications for asylum from Iranian and Afghan converts from Islam to Christianity, following “kangaroo court”-style hearings, according to a Berlin pastor. Rev. Gottfried Martens, who has . . . 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

Christian refugees in Europe still suffering

July 25, 2016 Afghanistan, Europe, France, Germany, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

, one of the US’s major producers and distributors of public radio programming, has interviewed Christians in German refugee centres – fleeing extremist violence in Iraq and Syria – who have reported intimidation from other refugees. Their programme built on research by Christian charity earlier this year. It found that . . . Read More

Large number of Muslim refugees ‘turn to Christ’

June 6, 2016 Austria, Baptism, Berlin, Catholics, Converts, Denmark, Europe, Finland, Germany, Migrants, Netherlands, Refugees, UK

Several churches across Europe have reported an unprecedented number of Muslim refugees seeking Christian baptisms. This comes as Europe has seen mass migrations, easily surpassing the one-million-mark in 2015 alone. The new arrivals have raised fears and challenges across the continent. The congregation of a Berlin suburb has grown from . . . Read More

Germany recognises Turkish ‘genocide’ of Armenians

June 2, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Armenia, Armenian Genocide, Armenians, Genocide, Germany, Turkey

The German Parliament has recognised the massacre 100 years ago of up to a million Armenians by the Turkish Ottoman Empire as “genocide”. Early in the 4th Century, the Kingdom of Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as its state religion. At the time of the genocide, Germany . . . Read More

Calls for Christian asylum centres in Sweden

April 29, 2016 Assyrians, Asylum seekers, Converts, France, Germany, Iran, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Pakistan, Refugees, Sweden, Women

Increasing reports about Christians harassed by hardline Muslim fellow migrants are prompting calls for non-Muslim asylum centres to be set up in Sweden. According to the Swedish Evangelical Alliance, one Christian refugee in Kalmar in the southeast of the country was threatened with having his throat slit by a man . . . Read More

Religious freedom network should be as ‘outspoken and organised’ as the extremists

September 22, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Brazil, El Salvador, Europe, Germany, Honduras, Iran, Migrants, Netherlands, New York, Norway, Religious freedom, Saeed Abedini, South Sudan, Taiwan, UN, USA

In the face of rising persecution of people on the grounds of faith or belief, more than 100 parliamentarians from almost 50 countries met on 18 September in New York to discuss ways to advance religious freedoms. One hundred and thirty delegates packed into a room that was booked for . . . Read More

Hundreds of refugees convert in Germany

September 10, 2015 Afghanistan, Asylum seekers, Berlin, Converts, Europe, Germany, Iran, Norway, Refugees, Syria

Hundreds of asylum seekers – mainly from Iran and Afghanistan – have converted to Christianity at an evangelical church in Berlin, causing an Associated Press journalist to question the legitimacy of their conversions. The pastor of the church, Gottfried Martens, who has witnessed his Trinity Church grow from 150 to 600 . . . Read More

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