Christian Today: Christians in Afghanistan are living in great fear after the Taliban’s rapid takeover. The organization, Release International, warns of a likely increase in attacks towards anyone who identifies as Christian. A spokesperson from Release International expresses that, with advances in the Internet and women’s education, the church is better resourced and equipped to handle the challenge than before.
Washington Examiner: Religious symbols have a strong role in reducing violence and fostering harmony and social cohesion. Despite this, attacks against houses of worship, religious leaders, and objects of spiritual significance are common in conflict zones in Africa. Authors James Carr and Frederick Davie express the importance of the role of the U.S. government in working with African governments and international partners to prioritize the safety of communities of faith.
Policy Options: Religious groups have played an integral role in providing funds for settlement and supporting private refugee sponsorship. Canada’s private refugee sponsorship program is widely celebrated as a unique policy framework that allows citizens to actively participate in the process of refugee protection.
ReliefWeb: Large influxes of refugees from Muslim-majority countries have led to a significant rise in the overall number of Muslims in Germany. Recent studies report high prevalence of mental distress and illness among the refugees. Recent surveys from the German Islam Conference indicate that faith plays an important role in the social integration and inclusion of these individuals.
Religion News: The State Department is not permitting statistics about refugees admitted into the United States, including their religious affiliations, to be publicly available. There are two main reasons for the change: the development of a new information technology system, which will not be completed until December 2021, and concerns about privacy.
Vancouver Sun: A rising number of asylum seekers coming to Canada from India, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, and China are claiming to be victims of religious persecution. Many of the 60,000 migrants who entered into Canada in 2019 are claiming either political or, increasingly, religious persecution, according to an internal report by the Canadian Border Services Agency.
Sikh Channel: Afghan Sikh and Hindu refugee families arrive in Canada after the tireless work and campaigning by Manmeet Singh Bhullar. The new arrivals have been sponsored through private applications that were organized by the Manmeet Singh Bhullar Foundation, with support from the World Sikh Organization of Canada. Sikhs and Hindus have endured increasing religious persecution, and most have been forced to flee to other countries.
The Conversation: Locals within host countries are not the only source of intolerance and prejudice against religious refugees. There is also conflict among refugees of different religious groups. While some have suggested separating people by religion in refugee centres, researcher Kat Eghdamian believes that proactively counteracting prejudice can be achieved by allowing groups to mix and share their experiences.
CBC News: Canada is accepting a higher proportion of asylum seekers. The data obtained by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation show the home country of asylum seekers, their reason for fleeing, and whether their asylum claim in Canada was granted. Nearly 10,000 out of almost 90,000 claimants made claims for religious reasons for the period January 2013 to September 2017. The top successful claims come from political and religious refugees who fit the United Nations definition of a convention refugee.
ABC News: Immigration experts tell ABC News that government workers can likely determine whether those seeking refugee status in the United States are lying about their religious affiliations. Royce Murray, policy director for the American Immigration Council, claims that the Department of Homeland Security is highly trained to ask for evidence supporting an asylum seeker’s claim concerning their religious persecution.
Religious Refugees