Tag: Education

Fulani violence against Nigeria Christians hits record high

May 25, 2018 Nigeria Benue, Catholics, Children, Dapchi, Education, Fulani herdsmen, Kaduna, Lagos, Leah Sharibu, Nasarawa, Nigeria, Plateau, Taraba

Catholics protest in Kaduna state on 22 May, 2018.

Violence attributed to militant Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria has reached a record high this year. The Governor of the central state of Benue said this week that 492 people have been killed in his state alone so far this year. Governor Samuel Ortom was speaking 22 May at the mass . . . Read More

Ten killed as Christian college attacked in South Sudan

May 17, 2018 South Sudan Dinka, Education, Mundri, Nuer, Riek Machar, Salva Kiir, South Sudan, SPLM-N, Sudan, Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church, Yei

Residential accommodation at Emmanuel Christian Training Centre in Goli, South Sudan. (Photo: Open Doors International, 2009)

At least ten people, including five children, have been killed in an attack on a college in South Sudan teaching Theology, Education and Business, according to the Christian charity Open Doors International. Three guards and five students – one secondary and four primary school pupils – were among the victims . . . Read More

Landmark judgment on Pakistani religious minorities yet to be honoured by the state

May 14, 2018 Pakistan All Saints Church, Blasphemy, Education, Human rights, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Minorities, Pakistan, Peshawar, Religious freedom

When a bomber killed 127 people at a Pakistan church, the country’s Supreme Court issued a list of instructions to the government to protect religious minorities. Four years later, the government has yet to follow most of them. As with the religious freedom guaranteed in Pakistan’s constitution, the government’s lacklustre . . . Read More

China: children stopped from entering church as pressure on Henan Christians increases

May 9, 2018 China Anyang, Catholics, Children, China, Churches, Communism, Education, Henan, House churches, Protestants, Xi Jinping, Zhengzhou

Under new religious regulations in China, religious education to minors is prohibited. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Pressure on Christians is increasing in China’s central Henan province, according to Catholic news service UCAN. Suppressive measures on both Catholic and Protestant churches have been directed by the central government in Beijing and have intensified in recent weeks, according to UCAN, which reported that churches had been “demolished and . . . Read More

‘Avoid persecution-of-Christians label,’ says Syria expert

May 2, 2018 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Education, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Middle East, Migrants, Refugees, Sunni, Syria

As the conflict in Syria continues, freelance journalist Jayson Casper sat down with Miles Windsor, head of advocacy at Christian charity Middle East Concern, to discuss where Syrian Christians’ allegiance lies, whether those who fled the country may return, and how Christians in other countries can help. Jayson Casper: There . . . Read More

Saudi Arabia told: ‘Christians are not second-class citizens’

April 27, 2018 Saudi Arabia Catholics, Education, Justin Welby, King Salman, Minorities, Mohammad bin Salman, Pope Tawadros II, Religious freedom, Saudi Arabia

There are no churches in Saudi Arabia and Christians have to meet in secret. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A senior Vatican official told Saudi officials during a visit last week that Christians must not be treated as second-class citizens. “During my meetings, I insisted very much on this point, that Christians and non-Muslims are spoken of well in schools and that they are never considered second-class citizens,” the . . . Read More

Coptic teacher cleared of contempt of religion for questions about Muhammad

April 25, 2018 Egypt Beni Suef, Blasphemy, Children, Copts, Education, Egypt, Islamic extremism, Prophet Muhammad

A Coptic teacher has been found not guilty of contempt of religion, after he was charged last month for including wordplays in a set of questions about Islam’s prophet, Muhammad. During the hearing on 19 April, both the headmaster of the school and a local MP defended the teacher, Magdy Farag . . . Read More

Pakistan: Islamic university opens Christian chapel – a first

April 20, 2018 Pakistan Education, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Minorities, Pakistan, Punjab, Rawalpindi, Religious freedom, Sharoon Masih, Vehari

Religious minorities in Pakistan have to declare their religion when applying for identification papers or for government jobs making them "even more vulnerable" activists say. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

For the first time ever, an Islamic university in Pakistan has opened a Christian chapel. The church of St. Mary is located in the atrium of the Agriculture University of Faisalabad, Pakistan’s third-most populous city, and was built following an initiative of the city’s former vicar general, reports AsiaNews. The church contributed . . . Read More

Sri Lanka: Facebook told to block religious hate speech

April 19, 2018 Sri Lanka Buddhist nationalism, Censorship, Colombo, Education, Minorities, Sri Lanka, Youth

A young girl in Colombo looks at her mobile phone while Sri Lanka's civil society has called on Facebook to block hate speech. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

Civil society groups in Sri Lanka have asked Facebook to do more to prevent hate speech, including comments that discriminate on religious lines, following recent anti-Muslim riots. “There was a post in the Sinhala [Sri Lanka’s largest ethnic group] language on Facebook for six days, which mentioned ‘killing all Muslims, . . . Read More

China: clampdown reaches Christians in Henan

April 11, 2018 China Anyang, Beijing, China, Crosses, Education, Henan, House churches, Religious freedom, Zhejiang

Local authorities in China’s east-central Henan Province have removed a number of crosses from churches closed a church-run kindergarten and asked Christian residents in one city to register. The “two or three” crosses that have been forcibly removed from churches were located in Yichuan county, and were taken down because . . . Read More

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