About 200 people, described as extremist Islamists, attacked a Christian school in Bangladesh which welcomes children of all faiths, in response to local outrage prompted by rumours stating the school was forcing Muslim children to convert to Christianity. World Watch Monitor reports that the attack was on the morning of 5 November 5 at the…
Pope Francis met the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Monday this week, commencing the start of the Arab leader’s first European tour. The visit was the first between an Egyptian leader and a Pope in eight years, since before the Arab Spring which ultimately propelled the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi to power and the subsequent…
Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con): Christians and others are being murdered for their faith in Nigeria, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and many other countries. Elsewhere, it is a crime to believe anything other than what the state sanctions. Does my right hon. Friend agree that our United Kingdom stands, above all, for freedom of speech, thought and…
The seven official reports to the UN Human Rights Council of the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religions and Belief, Heiner Bielefeldt, have been published by the International Institute of Religious Freedom of the World Evangelical Alliance. Each report has its own specific topic like religious minorities, apostasy and blasphemy, conversion, women’s rights, or…
As Pope Francis recently called for international action on religious freedom and condemned violence against Christians, a group of 21 parliamentarians from around the world have written to His Holiness encouraging him to assemble a gathering of religious leaders in support of freedom of religion or belief. The International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of…
Chris Evans MP (Islwyn) (Lab): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the extent of persecution of Christians in (a) the Middle East and (b) North Africa. Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood MP (Bournemouth East) (Con): Conflict and instability in the Middle East and North…
Fifty-four UK Parliamentarians have signed a letter calling on Pakistani politicians to consider the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of five, who has been sentenced to death under Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws. Premier Christian Radio reports that In a joint letter, authored by Rehman Chishti MP, the Westminster MPs say they feel strongly that…
Members of Parliament from across the world have gathered in Oslo to create a new International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and pledged to work together to see an end to belief-based persecution. The group includes Parliamentarians of different beliefs from Brazil, Canada, Germany, Nepal, Norway, South Africa, Dominican Republic, Burma,…
Naomi Long MP (Belfast East) (Alliance): To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to address the situation of religious minorities in India following the recent elections. Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP (East Devon) (Con): Our High Commissioner to New Delhi, Sir James Bevan, met…
The Independent reports that police have said a Christian couple were beaten to death in Pakistan by a mob for allegedly desecrating the Koran. They were killed by a mob in the town of Kot Radha Kishan, in eastern Punjab province, and their bodies were burned at a brick kiln where they both worked. The…