Charity says Christians face violence from fellow refugees

A leading Christian charity has published fresh evidence that Christians from Syria, Iraq and other countries are being mistreated by Muslim fellow refugees in Germany, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

“The evidence suggests discrimination, threats and assaults are by no means confined to individual cases, but that violence against religious minorities in refugee camps occurs repeatedly in Germany,” the Dutch-based Open Doors said. Focussing on a reception centre in Rotenburg, Open Doors said Christians there have faced death threats from extremist Muslim refugees and “sentencing” by unofficial “Sharia councils”. On one occasion, Christian refugees returned from church to the reception centre to find a sign reading: “To all Muslims: now is the time to behead unbelievers.” In one of the 32 testimonies in the report, a refugee says: “Every day the same group of Muslims from different countries walks through the quarters and forms a Sharia council, consulting on what they should do with us and according to which laws they are planning to sentence us.” Open Doors said: “We hope political leaders and authorities will take note of these documented cases [and] take effective action to protect the victims of religiously motivated violence.” The report, compiled with help from three other aid groups, said 743 “religiously motivated attacks” had been documented between February and September. It added that over half the victims were Muslim converts to Christianity. A widespread fear of speaking out, for fear of “getting into even more trouble”, had inhibited many refugees from speaking, it said.