World in Brief

Coptic Christians in various parts of Egypt have been left with no choice but to hold funeral services in the streets because of the closure of their churches, it was reported in mid-September.

During a street funeral in the village of Dimshau Hashim, in Minya governorate, the houses of Copts came under attack by a mob protesting against Copts gathering to pray in one of the Copt’s homes, since there is no village church.

The Odisha state government was denounced in September for failing to follow up on a Supreme Court order to investigate why there have been so few criminal convictions, despite nearly 6,500 arrests, after 100 Christians were killed in an incident in 2008.

Three hundred churches and 6,000 Christian homes were also attacked, rendering 56,000 people homeless. Only 78 people were convicted over the attacks.

At least ten pastors were arrested along with their family members on 23 September while they were participating in Sunday church services across the state of Uttar Pradesh.

A number of Christians were also threatened by the the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which espouses a Hindu nationalist ideology. A mob entered the Assembly of Believers Church in Shastri Nagar Kanpur and threatened Pastor Shaliendra Emmanuel and his congregation with ‘severe consequences’ if they did not stop the Sunday service.

Modern digital-printing technologies have made it possible for many Bible-based resources to become accessible to Christians living in India through a newly launched website, it was announced in October.

The Good Book Company is keen that anyone who needs access to Bible resources is put in contact with their website.

A 16-year-old Christian and three others in eastern India have been in jail for more than a month on a baseless rape charge.

One relative said that village council leaders, who have long persecuted Christians, pressured police to file the charges against Piso Ram after a girl’s father discovered she had gone to Piso’s house. Police allegedly call regularly threatening to arrest more Christians. The allegation concerns seven men, who are accused of gang rape.

Al-Shabaab terrorists murdered two Kenyan Christians travelling on a bus on 14 September, after they refused to recite the Shahada Islamic creed.

The terrorists flagged down a bus travelling to the city of Garissa and separated three ‘non-local’ passengers and asked them to recite verses from the Qur’an and the Shahada Islamic creed, considered a conversion to Islam. Two passengers who refused – a boy called Joshua who assisted the bus driver, and a labourer from the town of Masalani – were tied up and killed.

Armed Fulani herdsmen accompanied by militants in Nigerian army uniforms killed 17 Christians, including four children, in their homes in the heart of Jos on 27 September.

The assailants broke into one home shooting randomly and killed 14 members of one family. Surviving family members said that the Fulani herdsmen, some armed with firearms and some with machetes, were accompanied by Nigerian army soldiers.

A pastor was one of at least 27 people who lost their lives following attacks carried out by Fulani militants on five predominantly Christian communities in northeast Nigeria from 13-16 September.

Many drowned as they attempted to escape via the local river. On hearing sounds of gunfire, many were scared and fled into the bush, or drowned attempting to escape via the river as they could not swim. Ten people are still missing, four from Yanga and six from Bolki.

A Christian manager of a local hospital in Lahore was killed after being targeted in an acid attack while getting off his motorcycle just before the start of his shift.

The men who attacked him wore masks and so far remain unidentified despite numerous witnesses of the attack. The hospitals in which he was treated have reported that the body of Faraz Badar was covered with signs of torture which seemed to have been undertaken after the chemical was sprayed upon him.

On 18 September, a court acquitted a suspected accomplice in two suicide bombings that targeted a church in Peshawar five years ago.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up as worshippers were leaving the Sunday service at All Saints’ Memorial Church in September 2013. The bombings killed more than 80 people and injured over 100 others. The prosecution has miserably failed to prove its case against the accused, Zahir Shah, beyond shadow of doubt,’ declared Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Tariq Yousaf Zai, in his judgment.

A Christian woman of only 18 was thrown from the second floor building of her own home for refusing to ‘marry’ a local Muslim man who was running a trafficking ring, it was reported in September.

The girl was stalked by the man as she went to school. When he discovered the extent of her injuries to her back and legs, he tried to bribe the hospital to hide her medical reports. After her family were harassed for trying to make a police report, the man was eventually arrested.

The only Christian family in their area were beaten and saw their house set on fire on 20 September and told they would be killed if they returned.

The family – an elderly couple with their four sons, daughters-in-law and 11 grandchildren – are now sheltering in a tent. They say they were targeted by their Muslim neighbours and that they were assaulted by them six months ago, but decided at the time not to press charges, hoping there would be no recurrence.

A referendum to establish a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage failed after only a fifth of voters turned out to vote over the first weekend in October.

People were asked whether they wanted the constitution changed to specify that marriage can only be between a man and a woman. The wording in the constitution states that unions are between spouses. Just 20.4% of eligible voters cast ballots, and a turnout of 30% was needed. Voting booths were set up in London for overseas nationals living in the UK.

Nine civilians from the Christian-majority Syrian town of Mhardeh died on 7 September, when shells or rockets fired from a rebel-controlled region hit built-up areas.

A further 20 people were reportedly injured in the attack on the town, which is located around 14 miles north-west of the city of Hama. Throughout the conflict, Christian civilian areas in Syria have been deliberately targeted with rocket attacks and shelling by jihadist rebel groups, although these attacks have gone largely unreported by Western media.

Thai authorities rounded up and detained 181 refugees from ethnic minorities in the outskirts of Bangkok on 28 August.

The majority of those detained are ethnic minority Montagnards from Vietnam, many of whom are understood to be Christians. At least 50 are children. Vietnamese authorities often prevent Montagnard Christians, who are indigenous to the Central Highlands of Vietnam, from meeting to worship. They also face intimidation and arbitrary detention.

Both Turkish and US government officials have voiced cautious optimism that American pastor Andrew Brunson, jailed for the past two years on terrorism allegations, could be released at his next trial hearing, set for 12 October, as en goes to press.

A Turkish official said it would only happen if the US stopped putting pressure on Ankara to set him free and send him back to his country. The prosecutor who prepared the controversial indictment against Brunson has been reassigned to another bureau.

40% fewer Christian refugees have been admitted to the USA in the past year, it was reported in September.

As the Trump administration has implemented stricter policies on immigration and refugees, almost 11,000 Christians looking for a safe place to go were reportedly refused entry to the US. Christians from the Middle East who have been living in the US for years have also been affected, with dozens of Iraqi Christians in detention centres and facing the possibility of deportation.