Last Friday the House of Commons debated government strategy on IS. Stephen Pound MP (Ealing North) (Lab) asked the minister if the UK was willing to support the creation of a safe haven for persecuted minorities from Iraq. Mr Lidington replied that the Government was committed to doing everything that it could to safeguard the…
On 1st and 2nd September five Christians were arrested in Esfahan. Bibles, computers and mobile phones were confiscated and Mohammad Taslimi, Hamidreza Borhani and his wife Zainab Akbari, Moluk Ruhani and her sister, Sepideh Morshedi, were arrested and taken to Dastgerd prison, Esfahan. They have yet to be charged. Prior to this on August 12th…
The Islamic State has destroyed several Sufi Muslim shrines and tombs in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor. The Sunni Muslim group, which enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law in territories under its control in Iraq and Syria, has destroyed dozens of shrines, tombs and Shi’ite Muslim mosques. Sites affiliated with the Sufi…
Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK gave a keynote address at last week’s In Defense of Christians inaugural summit. Bishop Angaelos said the Christians and minorities in the region were facing widespread brutality which was intensifying. He also warned however that discussion around the atrocities must not be confined to religious…
Sir, We urge the government to promote a co-ordinated approach towards the estimated 100,000 displaced Christians around northern Iraq/Kurdistan, many of whom have nothing but the clothes on their backs. Their fate is now in the hands of outsiders after a forced exodus from areas they have inhabited since New Testament times. Western non-government organisations…
Boko Haram has taken over a string of locations in recent weeks in Nigeria’s remote northeast, in what looks like a plan to seize and hold a “Muslim territory” or caliphate, apparently inspired by the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria, reports Reuters. Escapees from seized northeast towns, such as Madagali, say the Islamists murder…
The Bishop of Coventry spoke at July’s General Synod in response to a motion calling for celebrations of the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta in June 2015. His speech clearly identified links between Magna Carta and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – and particularly Article 18. Here is the full text of his speech:…
John Dayal of the All India Christian Council (AICC) reported on 22 August that, despite concerted advocacy, there has been no response from either the state or federal government to concerns expressed that on the advice of Hindu nationalist (Hindutva) agitators from the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), more than 50 villages in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region had…
Investor’s Business Daily has carried a story analysing the link between religious freedom and economic growth. Written by Katrina Lantos Swett and Daniel I. Mark of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, the article identifies the core facets of religious persecution that contribute to low levels of economic growth – namely the wasting of…
Ziya Meral, a Research Associate at the Foreign Policy Centre and a co-author of last year’s APPG for International Religious Freedom or Belief report Article 18: An Orphaned Right, which analyses the role the UK can play in promoting religious freedom around the world. Ziya’s recommendations centre around the necessity of integrating religious freedom with wider issues,…