Tag: IDPs

CAR’s clerics warn against attempts to divide Christians and Muslims

June 1, 2018 Central African Republic Anti-balaka, Antonio Guterres, Bambari, Bangui, Central African Republic, Chad, Dieudonné Nzapalainga, IDPs, Nicolas Guérékoyamé-Gbangou, Oumar Kobine Layama, PK5, Seleka, Sudan, UN, UPC

The three top faith leaders of the Central African Republic (CAR), who have won international recognition for their efforts to end conflict in the country, have blamed foreign mercenaries for a recent upsurge in violence. One month ago today, the relative calm enjoyed by the capital, Bangui, was shattered when . . . Read More

Amnesty accuses Nigerian army of raping women and girls who fled Boko Haram

May 24, 2018 Nigeria Boko Haram, Divorce, IDPs, Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Women

Women and girls detained by Boko Haram have then been raped by their military ‘rescuers’ reports Amnesty International in a report that has taken two years and 250 interviews. Nigerian troops sometimes separated women from their husbands and raped them, sometimes in exchange for food, in refugee camps, the rights . . . Read More

Can the Scouts help safeguard the future of the Church in Syria?

May 17, 2018 Syria Children, Churches, Damascus, Greek Orthodox, Homs, IDPs, Refugees, Syria, Women, Youth

As the war in Syria enters its eighth year, clergy who have watched their congregations dwindle fear that those who have left the country may not return. One priest expressed his fear that “Christianity will be erased” from certain areas of the country “because the Christians who left these places . . . Read More

Syria: more families return to Homs

May 16, 2018 Syria Civil War, Homs, IDPs, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

Hundreds of people displaced from Syria’s third largest city of Homs because of years of violent conflict will soon be returning home, according to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Homs saw some of the first protests of the Syrian conflict back in 2011 and in the years that . . . Read More

Myanmar: 7,000 Kachin displaced as violence escalates

May 15, 2018 Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, China, Churches, Human rights, IDPs, Kachin, Myanmar, Myitkyina, Pope Francis, Rakhine, Rohingya, Tatmadaw, UN, Youth

Displaced Kachin residents cross the Malikha river on 26 April to escape the fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the Myanmar government troops. (Photo: ZAU RING HPARA/AFP/Getty Images)

Almost 7,000 people belonging to the largely Christian minority group in Kachin, northern Myanmar, have fled their houses since fighting between the army and a rebel group flared up in early April, according to recent figures from the Red Cross. “It’s a war where civilians are being systematically targeted by . . . Read More

Praying for a peacemaker: What do Iraq’s elections mean for the remaining Christians?

May 9, 2018 Iraq Anbar, Chaldeans, Elections, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Kirkuk, Kurds, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Saddam Hussein, Shia, Sunni

A boy recently returned to his home in the Nineveh plains, looks out over the remains of Karamles (WWM May 2017)

Iraqis go the polls on Saturday (12 May) for the first time since the military defeat of Islamic State, whose campaign of terror against non-Muslims pushed thousands of the country’s last Christians to flee their homeland. Only about 200,000 to 300,000 Christians are thought to remain in Iraq now, mostly . . . 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

Iraq: children wounded in Easter Monday explosion

April 4, 2018 Iraq Bartella, Children, Easter, Erbil, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

Four children were wounded on Easter Monday when a bomb exploded outside a medical complex in Bartella, east of Mosul, according to Iraqi News. No group has claimed responsibility but it is believed that Islamic State militants were behind it, a source told the news site. Despite its military defeat, . . . Read More

Boko Haram sets churches on fire in latest attack on Cameroon’s Far North

January 29, 2018 Cameroon Boko Haram, Cameroon, Chad, Churches, Far North, IDPs, Mayo-Tsanaga, Muhammadu Buhari, Niger, Nigeria, UN

Residents of Roum village in the Far North region of Cameroon woke up to two churches and many houses ablaze on the night of 15 January. The fire was claimed by Boko Haram militants, who had stormed the village late at night. Four people were killed. Apart from the Union . . . Read More

Iraq and Philippines Christians join Red Wednesday religious freedom solidarity display

November 22, 2017 Bashar Warda, Belgium, China, Copts, Egypt, France, IDPs, India, Iraq, Islamic State, London, Manila, Myanmar, Nineveh Plains, Religious freedom, Rohingya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, UN, Uyghurs

Landmarks in the UK, Ireland, Iraq and the Philippines are due to be floodlit in red today (22 November) to highlight the persecution of faith groups for their “peacefully held beliefs”. The “Red Wednesday” initiative is in its second year and has been pioneered by Aid to the Church in . . . Read More

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