Tag: UN

Iraqi Christian boy Noeh under his own roof again

October 15, 2018 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Middle East, Nineveh Plains, Pope Francis, UN, USA

Around 40,000 Christians who escaped from the 2014 attacks of Islamic State in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains have returned to their homes but are in a “very hard situation”, according to the Pope’s nuncio in Iraq: “There is still much to be done, much to rebuild. The houses were damaged, burned . . . Read More

India: Violence against Christians continues in run-up to 2019 elections

October 10, 2018 India Anti-conversion law, Assam, BJP, Caste, India, Narendra Modi, UN, Uttar Pradesh

Hindu nationalists vandalised two Christian places of worship in the northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Assam in the last two weeks, reports AsiaNews. On 29 September a statue of Saint John Bosco, also known as Don Bosco, was desecrated in the city of Tezpur, Assam, northeast India. It . . . Read More

Sudan releases shipment of Bibles held in port for six years

October 2, 2018 Sudan Bibles, Churches, Human rights, Omar al-Bashir, Sudan, UN, USA

Bibles in Sudan are hard to come by with a government stopping the distribution, and with conflict raging in several parts of the country. such as in South Kordofan's Nuba mountains. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The Sudanese government has cleared a shipment of Bibles believed to have been held in Port Sudan for six years. The Arabic-language Bibles were released two weeks ago and transported to the capital, Khartoum, after years of appeals by church leaders, a local source told World Watch Monitor. “Since 2011, . . . Read More

‘Eliminate’ blasphemy laws, says US commission chief on International Blasphemy Day

October 1, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Ahmed Shaheed, Blasphemy, Minorities, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Southeast Asia, UN, USA

In some countries blasphemy is a very sensitive topic and often leads to riots and violence, like in Islamabad, Pakistan, in November 2017.(Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Blasphemy laws are “dangerous” and should be “eliminated”, the chair of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) told Newsweek yesterday on International Blasphemy Day. The freedom to criticise or mock religion should not be decided by governments and their interpretation of laws, said Dr. Tenzin Dorjee. And it . . . Read More

Myanmar: Ethnic army detains 92 pastors, orders others to leave

October 1, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Education, Missionaries, Myanmar, Shan, UN, USA

UWSA ethnic army has forced Bible students to join its ranks while closing and destroying churches in Wa region, northern Shan state. Photo: Getty Images

An ethnic armed group has recently detained almost 100 pastors and forced Bible students to join its ranks of fighters in northern Myanmar’s Shan state, reports Radio Free Asia. Witnesses who fled the state’s northern Wa region, which borders China, reported that 92 pastors were held by the armed group, . . . Read More

Religious freedom a prerequisite for sustainable development, expert says

September 25, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Minorities, Religious freedom, UN, Women

Poverty cannot be eradicated through government intervention alone but it needs the help of "innovative faith-based initiatives", says Brian Grim. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

As half a million people in 900 cities around the world campaign today for “sustainable” development goals, Brian Grim, president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation, argues that this cannot be achieved without religious freedom. “There is a strong and positive relationship between religious freedom and sustainable development as . . . Read More

Churches destroyed, priests questioned in Myanmar’s Shan state

September 20, 2018 Myanmar China, Churches, Communism, Kachin, Missionaries, Myanmar, Shan, Tatmadaw, UN, USA

The United Wa State Army has ordered that churches built in Wa territory in Shan state after 1989 have to be destroyed. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

An ethnic armed group in Myanmar’s Shan state is destroying churches and holding clergymen for questioning, reports Radio Free Asia. The United Wa State Army (UWSA), the military wing of the United Wa State Party (UWSP), reportedly issued a statement on Facebook on 6 September, declaring that all churches built . . . Read More

Vietnam uses ‘national security’ to detain rights activists, UN told

September 19, 2018 Vietnam Catholics, Human rights, Nguyen Van Dai, Religious freedom, UN, Vietnam

Vietnam has been accused of “misinforming” the international community about the human rights issues in the country. The president of the Paris-based Vietnam Committee on Human Rights, Vo Van Ai, speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, condemned the alleged “brutal crackdown on freedom of expression, association, peaceful . . . Read More

Boko Haram kills midwife, threatens to kill other hostages, including Leah Sharibu, unless demands met

September 18, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Borno, Islamic State, Leah Sharibu, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, UN

Boko Haram has killed an aid worker and threatened to kill three other hostages, including the Christian schoolgirl Leah Sharibu. Saifura Hussaini Ahmed Khorsa, 25, who worked as midwife with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), had been abducted on 1 March, alongside two other health workers, when . . . Read More

‘UN must recognise persecution of Christians in Middle East as genocide’

September 17, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Europe, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jan Figel, Middle East, Sam Brownback, Syria, UN, Yazidis

At the moment of the photo taken, ISIS had just been pushed out of the home towns of these Christians. People were hoping and anticipating to return to their towns some day.

The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) is appealing to the United Nations to recognise the persecution of Christians in Iraq and Syria as “genocide”, reports the US-based National Review. The ECLJ, an affiliate of the American Center for Law and Justice, said a “genocide” declaration is necessary to . . . Read More

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