Just days after the United States removed Nigeria’s designation as engaging in or tolerating violations of religious rights, several Christians were killed by Islamic fighters, Christians said.
...continue reading this storyChristians in Afghanistan have reportedly turned off their phones and moved to undisclosed locations amid an ongoing crackdown by the ruling Islamist Taliban group.
...continue reading this storyA top Iranian court has ordered a review of five-year prison terms given to nine Christian converts who left Islam, according to sources familiar with the court’s thinking.
...continue reading this storyChristian and government organizations have expressed fury at last week’s decision by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to remove Nigeria from a US list of countries identified as allowing or engaging in violent persecution of minority faith groups, Politico reports. Outrage at Blinken’s decision follows the bipartisan US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) 2021 report in which Nigeria is described as a “killing field for Christians.”
...continue reading this storyAs Afghanistan descends further into chronic economic and political catastrophe, the nation’s Christians are facing hunger and even more severe employment discrimination than they were before the US withdrawal and the Taliban takeover in August, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. Afghanistan ranked two on the US Open Doors Watch List 2021 of top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted - even before the Taliban took power this summer.
...continue reading this storyAs the suppression of Christianity in India continues, earlier this month local authorities in Madhya Pradesh state imposed a ban on Christian religious gatherings in the Jhabua district, effectively shutting down over 50 house churches, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
...continue reading this storyChristian villages in Iraqi Kurdistan have been “emptied” in the last year as Turkey’s air force continues to bomb Kurdish forces connected to the PKK movement, Asia News reports. Christians have also fled from the cities of Zakho, Dohuk, Erbil, only to return because of airstrikes on the areas they escaped to.
...continue reading this storyAid workers have condemned the detention of a Nigerian Christian journalist after he covered attacks against mainly Christian communities in Nigeria.
...continue reading this storyA Christian who faced the death penalty in Pakistan for “blasphemy against Islam” was acquitted and quietly released after nearly 10 years in prison, Christian sources say.
...continue reading this storySouth Korea turned down asylum requests from dozens of Chinese Christians despite fears their deportation to China could mean imprisonment, “forced disappearances and torture,” Christians said.
...continue reading this story