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Deported Persecuted Christians Expected to Face Persecution Yet Again
Panama — Among those deported from the United States to Panama for eventual return to their home countries are several converts to Christianity facing severe persecution in their home countries, according to widespread media reports in a story published by The New York Times.
“Only a miracle can save us,” one deportee said. A persecuted minority who converted to Christianity in a banned underground church, her life — and those of many around her — hang in the balance as they await their fate at the hands of Panamanian authorities.
Ten Iranian Converts
At least 10 of those being held in Panama en route to their home countries are Iranian converts from Islam. If returned to Iran, they will face the death penalty for apostasy — a severe crime under Sharia law. Iranian Christians have been heavily persecuted for decades, despite a long history in the country.
While the government allows some degree of freedom for historically non-Muslim communities, converts from Islam to Christianity are viciously persecuted and are treated as a national security threat.
One of the world’s few theocracies, the Iranian system is built on extreme devotion to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. After the overthrow of the secular but authoritarian monarchy in 1979, Iran swung hard toward Islamist extremism and has continued on that path ever since, with a growing security apparatus designed to suppress religious and political dissent in every corner of society.
Iran’s constitution, finalized soon after the 1979 revolution, is a religious manifesto that quotes the Quran extensively and mandates the military to fulfill “the ideological mission of jihad in Allah’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of Allah’s law throughout the world.”
For religious minorities in Iran, there is no escape from the extremist policies of a government fueled by an extremist interpretation of Shia Islam that leaves no room even for Sunni Islam, much less religious minorities like Christianity.
A Lone Chinese Christian
The Iranian refugees are not the only persecuted minority being sent back to their home country.
One man in his 50s who had recently fled China held up a Chinese-language Bible and explained to a reporter for The New York Times that he had come to the United States seeking freedom. International Christian Concern (ICC) has worked to support Chinese Christians in the past, including by providing them with secret Bibles.
The Chinese man, identified only by his surname Wang, faces the threat of forced return to a country that has waged a decades-long war against Christianity and aggressively works to extradite and punish religious refugees who have fled the country seeking religious freedom.
China is known to have forced abortions on its citizens, sterilized women without their consent, and murdered religious minorities to sell their organs on the black market. Christian home churches are an attempt to escape government scrutiny, but even they are often raided and their members arrested on charges of working against the interests of the state.
China operates a concentrated campaign of persecution against its Muslim-majority Uyghur population. Donald Trump, at the end of his first term, declared the Chinese government’s actions against the Uyghurs a genocide after detailed research by government and civil society organizations around the world documenting a vast network of concentration camps throughout the Xinjiang region.
China has even reached beyond its borders to suppress religion and silence opposition. Chinese spy rings have been discovered around the world, from Kabul to New York City. The Afghan spy ring worked with the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated terrorist group, to hunt down Uyghurs and bring them back to China. China has also stepped up its efforts to capture escaping religious minorities through the more traditional route of formal extradition requests.
Non-Refoulement
In Wang’s case, though, it does not appear that China has filed an extradition request or engaged actively to seek his return. While the United States has long maintained programs providing paths for refugees fleeing religious persecution, these programs appear to have been disrupted in recent weeks, halting the admission of already-vetted persecuted minorities and making it difficult or impossible for new arrivals to make their case.
According to reports, those recently deported to Panama include persons from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Uzbekistan — a list that includes many of the countries that are most hostile to Christianity.
Refoulement, or the forced return of refugees and asylum seekers to countries where they are likely to face persecution, is prohibited in numerous international treaty bodies, including the Convention against Torture and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). The United States is party to the Convention against Torture but has refused to sign the ICPPED.
According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, adherence to non-refoulement is “an implicit guarantee flowing from the obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.”
Justifying its decision to deport these Christians and others, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman claimed that “Not a single one of these aliens asserted fear of returning to their home country at any point during processing or custody.”
While the veracity of her claim is impossible to verify, the principle of non-refoulement applies to “all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status,” according to the U.N. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Sources:persecution
Two Assemblies of God pastors in Cuba, Luis Guillermo Borjas and his wife, Roxana Rojas, were detained this week after invoking their religious beliefs during their son’s military tribunal.
Prosecutors are seeking an eight-year prison sentence for the couple, who face charges of disrespect and disobedience to authorities.
The incident occurred in Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, where the couple resides, according to the U.K.-based group Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
They had been summoned to a military tribunal after their son, Kevin Laureido Rojas, fled a military facility. Although Kevin reportedly had a medical exemption from compulsory military service due to psychiatric issues, he had been taken by force to a base.
At the tribunal, the pastors presented official documents from a medical commission supporting their son’s exemption. When the military prosecutor accused them of submitting false evidence, Pastor Borjas responded by saying the officials would be accountable to God’s justice.
The prosecutor then ordered their immediate detention, citing the illegality of referencing God or divine justice in a military court.
Borjas remains in custody at a local police station. His wife was hospitalized after collapsing later that night. While in hospital, she was reportedly harassed by a man in civilian clothing who falsely identified himself as a nurse.
The couple’s trial is set for June 9. Both are affiliated with the Assemblies of God, a denomination that holds legal status in Cuba.
CSW has called for the charges to be dropped and for Borjas to be released, describing the legal action as unjust and urging international pressure on the Cuban government.
Religious freedom in Cuba is tightly regulated, with the Communist dictatorship controlling all recognized religious institutions and requiring official registration for legal operation. Unregistered groups often face surveillance, harassment and restrictions on worship, assembly and religious expression.
Cuban authorities recently barred exiled Pastor Alain Toledano Valiente from returning to the country to be with his adult daughter, who is undergoing surgery for advanced breast cancer. The government has enforced a travel ban against Toledano Valiente since his forced departure in 2022. A leader of the unregistered Apostolic Movement, he had appealed for permission to return, stating that her life was again at risk.
In January, Cuban Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was released from prison as part of a mass amnesty, despite not having completed his eight-year sentence for participating in peaceful protests in 2021. He was among 553 political prisoners freed following the U.S. decision to remove Cuba from a key terror watchlist — a move that was criticized by both Democrats and Republicans, who say that Cuba enables groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Sources:Christianpost
ബെര്ലിന്: ക്രൈസ്തവ ഭൂരിപക്ഷ രാജ്യമായിരിന്ന ജർമ്മനിയിൽ ക്രൈസ്തവ ദേവാലയങ്ങള്ക്കും ക്രൈസ്തവര്ക്കുമെതിരെ അരങ്ങേറുന്ന കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങളിൽ വർദ്ധനവ്. 2024-ൽ ജർമ്മനിയിലെ ക്രൈസ്തവ ദേവാലയങ്ങള്ക്കെതിരെയുള്ള ആക്രമണങ്ങളില് 20% വര്ദ്ധനവ് ഉണ്ടായതായി ഫെഡറൽ ആഭ്യന്തര മന്ത്രാലയവും ഫെഡറൽ ക്രിമിനൽ പോലീസ് ഓഫീസും പുറത്തുവിട്ട റിപ്പോര്ട്ടില് പറയുന്നു. ദേവാലയങ്ങള് ലക്ഷ്യമിട്ടുള്ള ആക്രമണങ്ങളില് മാത്രം ആകെ 111 കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങൾ രജിസ്റ്റർ ചെയ്തുവെന്ന് കാത്തലിക് ന്യൂസ് ഏജന്സിയുടെ ജർമ്മൻ ഭാഷാ വാർത്താ പങ്കാളിയായ സിഎൻഎ ഡച്ച് റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്തു.
2024 ന്റെ തുടക്കം മുതൽ 2024 ഡിസംബർ 10 വരെ, “ക്രിസ്ത്യൻ വിരുദ്ധ” ആക്രമണവുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട് ആകെ 228 കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങൾ രജിസ്റ്റർ ചെയ്തതായി ജർമ്മൻ സർക്കാർ റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്തു. അതിൽ ഒരു കൊലപാതകം, 14 ആക്രമണങ്ങൾ, 52 സ്വത്ത് നാശനഷ്ട കേസുകൾ എന്നിവ ഉൾപ്പെടുന്നു. ഇതേ കാലയളവിൽ, ദേവാലയങ്ങള്ക്ക് നേരെ 96 കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങൾ രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയിട്ടുണ്ട്. രാജ്യത്തെ വിവിധ മത സമൂഹങ്ങള്ക്ക് നേരെയും ആക്രമണങ്ങള് വര്ദ്ധിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്.
2023 ൽ ഇത് 7,029 ആയിരുന്നു. 2024 ൽ ഇത് 8531 ആയി ഉയര്ന്നു. വിവിധ മത സമൂഹങ്ങളിലെ അംഗങ്ങൾക്കും പ്രതിനിധികൾക്കും എതിരായ കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങളിൽ 22% വർദ്ധനവ് റിപ്പോർട്ട് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട്. വിയന്ന ആസ്ഥാനമായുള്ള സർക്കാരിതര സംഘടനയായ ഒബ്സർവേറ്ററി ഓൺ ഇന്റോളറൻസ് ആൻഡ് ഡിസ്ക്രിമിനേഷൻ എഗൈൻസ്റ്റ് ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾ ഇൻ യൂറോപ്പ് (OIDAC യൂറോപ്പ്) ജർമ്മനിയിൽ ക്രിസ്ത്യൻ വിരുദ്ധ വിദ്വേഷ കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങൾ വര്ദ്ധിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെന്ന് നേരത്തെ തന്നെ റിപ്പോര്ട്ട് ചെയ്തിരിന്നു.
കടപ്പാട് :പ്രവാചക ശബ്ദം
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Criminal Police Office found that attacks against German churches increased by 20% in 2024, with a total of 111 registered crimes, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner. Crimes against religious communities also increased, reaching 8,531 in 2024, compared with 7,029 in 2023. A 22% increase was reported in crimes against members and representatives of religious communities, jumping from 6,122 in 2023 to 7,504 in 2024.
The German government reported that from the start of 2024 to Dec. 10, 2024, a total of 228 crimes with the subtopic “anti-Christian” were registered, including one homicide, 14 assaults, and 52 cases of property damage. During the same time period, 96 crimes with the subtopic “church” were recorded, including 47 cases of property damage.
Bishop Bernardus Bofitwos Baru was ordained bishop of Timika, Indonesia, on May 14 after a five-year vacancy following former Bishop John Philip Saklil’s death. More than 10,000 Catholics and 33 bishops attended the ordination service to celebrate the second Indigenous priest to receive episopal ordination and the first Augustinian bishop in Indonesia, Agencia Fides reported.
“This ordination is a sign of the Holy See’s great concern for the Catholic faithful in Papua,” said apostolic nuncio Archbishop Piero Pioppo at the event.
Baru thanked the faithful for his ordination and shared that listening, dialogue, and cooperation will be the cornerstones of his episcopal ministry. “Our relations must be based on love, friendship, and human exchange. We are called to open doors for one another,” he said.
Catholic organizations and environmental agencies criticize lifting of mining ban in Philippines
Church leaders and environmental groups have criticized a top court verdict nullifying a moratorium that paused mining in the Occidental Mindoro province for 25 years. On May 15, the court in the Philippines ruled that the province could not continue a ban in such a large-scale mining area, Union of Catholic Asian News reported.
In a joint statement, the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose and the Catholic charity Caritas International said the lifting of the ban is a cause for “deep concern” and it ignores past suffering of communities across Occidental Mindoro.
“While we recognize the authority of the state to manage our natural resources, we echo Pope Francis’ warning against a technocratic paradigm that values economic gain over human dignity and ecological balance,” the statement said.
http://theendtimeradio.com
Nearly 2,000 people lined the shores of a small Florida beach earlier this week to publicly proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ.
The Church of Eleven22 baptized 1,958 people on the shores of Hanna Park Beach in Jacksonville, FL Sunday.
“1,958 members of our church family went public with their faith today and got baptized! Every year Beach Baptism somehow gets better and better and we could not be more in awe of the goodness of God,” reads a caption from The Church of Eleven22.
Hundreds more lined the shore in support of loved ones giving their “yes” to Jesus.
Church organizers told CBN News that participants traveled from across the country including from neighboring areas of Florida and southeast Georgia to take part of the annual event.
“We are a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. Today, we celebrated 1,958 people proclaiming Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It doesn’t get much better than that! The church is alive and well, the Spirit of God is on the move, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is still changing lives as it has for thousands of years,” said Pastor Joby Martin, lead pastor of The Church of Eleven22.
For the last decade, the church has been hosting an annual beach baptism and each year the event has grown in size. As CBN News reported, more than 1,600 people were baptized at the same site last year.
“It’s a great reminder that the church is not dead, and neither is God. He is moving amongst his people all over the world and we’re all just swept up in His work. It’s a gift to be a part of it all,” Jay Owen, a spokesperson with the Church of Eleven22, told us at the time.
Those who attended the event are thanking God for what took place.
“Privilege to be there and celebrate with everyone,” one person commented on Facebook.
“A million little miracles…what an amazing day,” another person shared on Instagram.
“My fourth year coming to Beach Baptism and every year is so powerful and amazing! Praise God,” shared social media user Jeanette Marsh.
Sources:CBN News
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