ERITREA: “It’s getting better and worse”
Dr Berhane Asmelash (Release Eritrea) speaks about the current situation inside Eritrea.
IRAN: Ebrahim Firouzi goes into internal exile
Two weeks after being released from prison, Ebrahim Firouzi set out on the long journey to the remote town where he is to spend two years in internal exile.
CHINA: Ireland joins 22 other countries in call for Chinese government to respect religious freedom
At the United Nations in New York, Ireland and 22 other countries at the United Nations expressed concern about religious freedom in China.
NIGERIA: Engravers’ College students and staff released
The six students and two staff members kidnapped from a Christian-run school in Kaduna state on 3 October have been released.
IRAN: Ebrahim Firouzi released from prison to internal exile
Ebrahim Firouzi was released from prison on 26 October and must now serve two years’ internal exile in a remote southeastern town.
CHINA: Gou Zhongcan of Early Rain Covenant Church released
Gou Zhongcan of Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has been released after seven months’ imprisonment.
ALGERIA: Three more churches closed
Algerian authorities have sealed the buildings of three more churches, including the country’s two largest.
CHINA: Megachurch demolished and pastors detained
On 18 October, police in Funan, Anhui Province, destroyed a large Protestant church building and detained its pastors.
IRAN: Nine Christian converts given five-year sentences
Nine Christians have been sentenced to five years each in prison for “acting against national security”.
IRAN: 65-year-old Christian woman imprisoned in Karaj
Christian convert Mahrokh Kanbari (65) has been summoned to prison to begin serving a one-year sentence for “propaganda against the system”.
SYRIA: What does the Turkish incursion mean for Christians?
Christian leaders in northern Syria are very concerned about their communities’ vulnerability following the launch of Turkey’s incursion on 9 October.
NIGERIA: Six students, two staff kidnapped from Christian-run school
On 3 October, gunmen abducted six teenage girls and two staff members from a Christian-run boarding school in Kaduna state.
NIGERIA: Boko Haram executes two Christian aid workers
Boko Haram militants have executed Godfrey Ali Shikagham and Lawrence Duna Dacighir, who were building shelters for displaced Nigerians.
NIGERIA: Fulani militants kill pastor’s wife despite ransom payment
Militant Fulani herdsmen kidnapped pastor’s wife Esther Katung and later killed her, despite her family paying a ransom.
ALGERIA: Church closure campaign intensifies
On 26 September, Algerian authorities closed a church building in Tizi Ouzou province, two days after closing another church in the same province.
IRAN: Youcef Nadarkhani’s sons refused school certificates
Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is very concerned about the future of his sons, as the state refuses to recognise them as Christians.
CHINA: Six Uighur Christians imprisoned
Six Uighur Christians have been imprisoned in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.
CHINA: “President Xi has launched a war against the church and the cross”
Dr Bob Fu told Church in Chains’ conference that President Xi Jinping has launched three wars against religious freedom.
CHINA: Bob Fu launches new report
In Dublin, Dr Bob Fu recently launched Church in Chains’ new report “CHINA’s CRACKDOWN ON CHRISTIANITY”
IRAN: UN Rapporteur issues recommendations on freedom of religion
UN Rapporteur Javaid Rehman calls for an end to the criminalisation of the peaceful expression of faith