The faith of the Burmese churches, pastors and workers is being  severely tested. 

The government has put high restrictions on work among the cyclone victims. They presume Christians are doing it for political purposes.

Even those Buddhist monks and laymen who are interested in helping victims are being persecuted. Some were caught and sentenced to very long jail terms, some as long as 45-60 years!  Christian Aid Mission

Ler Per Her refugee camp is on the border of Burma and Thailand. Noh Bo village is on the Thai side of the Moei River a few kilometres away from Ler Per Her.

In June the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, which fights alongside the Burma Army, threatened to shell Noh Bo village if they did not supply food to them in support of their attack on Ler Her Per camp.

Some 3,521 refugees fled the camp. Those who fled have faced problems - malaria, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoea.   Partners Relief & Development and Free Burma Rangers supplied food, clothes, plastic, tarps and mosquito repellent to them.

Burma Army soldiers, taking part in the fighting around Ler Per Her, raped and killed two young Karen women (one was eight months pregnant and the other had a six month old baby) at a village 15 kms from Ler Per Her camp.  FBR

On the western side of Burma, the Burma Army is supervising construction of a 240km long fence along the border with Bangladesh and India.

Villagers are made to carry army rations and equipment, relay information and letters, prepare army camps and other works. In this part of Chin State villagers face a food crisis, also having been badly affected by the flowering of bamboo which attracts rats, which eat rice crops and supplies.

NORTH KOREA  For Christians imprisoned there, the chief objective is to make them denounce their belief in the God of heaven. That is why they are beaten if they are caught looking heavenwards. One form of torture is to force them to sit cross-legged on cold cement floors with head bowed from 5am to 10.00pm.

NIGERIA  The Nigerian army has killed Bukar Shekau, the deputy leader of the Islamic group believed responsible for violence in Bauchi town this year, and the violent attacks during the last weekend of July on government facilities and churches in four northern and central states. Over 600 people have died in the July attacks.   CSW                                           

VIETNAM   Over 100 police and security officials attacked about 150 Christians in Dong Hoi, capital city of Quang Binh province, on July 20, firing teargas into the crowd and assaulting believers with batons, sticks and stun guns. More than 20 believers were injured and dozens loaded into police vans.

These Christians of Tam Toa parish have met for open-air services on the church compound, or in homes since their church was badly damaged in the Vietnam War.

On July 26, Father Paul Dinh Phu Nguyen was attacked by a mob on his way to celebrate mass at Tam Toa. He was visited in hospital by Father Peter Nguyen The Binh, who was thrown from an upstairs hospital window by a gang and is in a coma.

Catholics have since carried out mass demonstrations.

CHURCH FINED IN BELARUS

On July 14, a registered church in the town of Baranovichi, Belarus was fined 350,000 Belarusian roubles for activity which officials claim violated the Code of Administrative Violations. This was the maximum fine under this article. The congregation insists the service was within the terms of the statute.

On June 21, officials of the local Ideology Department noticed that members of the New Generation Full Gospel church had placed posters around town advertising a special Sunday morning prayer service.

Half an hour before the scheduled service, the chief specialist of the department arrived at the church, accusing believers of "activity of a religious organisation outside the statute." Forum18

EGYPT

Police arrested a Coptic Christian man and woman for allegedly burning down their own house church in the village of Ezbet Basillious on July 11. Christians in the village believe the arson attack and subsequent arrests of believers indicate local police corruption and collusion.

Egyptian State Security Investigations officers have since followed up eyewitness testimonies ignored by local police and have arrested three Muslim suspects who were seen entering the church with cans of kerosene and leaving shortly afterwards shouting "Allahu Akbar.  Compass

A female convert to Christianity, who was arrested at Cairo  Airport as she tried to leave Egypt, is still in prison. 

At the court hearing on July 15, the trial was re-scheduled to October 14 and she was sent back to prison. She has been charged with identity theft rather than conversion from Islam. 

SOMALIA

Mohammed Sheikh Abdiraman, a convert from Islam to Christianity, was murdered on July 20 in the city of Mahadday Weyne, Somalia by members of al-Shabaab, a militant group with ties to Al-Qaeda. He had been a Christian for 15 years and was the leader of a group of underground believers. He is survived by two children aged 10 and 15.  Compass

CUBA

A sentence of six years imprisonment and confiscation of his family home were announced against Pastor Omar Gude Pérez on July 9 2009, despite credible claims that he was falsely charged due to his leadership role in the ‘Apostolic Reformation’, a fast growing Christian organisation.

His wife, Kenia, has claimed false documents and testimonies were presented in court.

He has been in prison awaiting trial for over a year. The initial charges of “Human Trafficking” were dropped in March 2009 due to there being no evidence.

In mid-April new charges of Falsification of Documents and Illicit Economic Activities were filed. The prosecution also accused him of “counter-revolutionary conduct and attitudes.”

There has been an increase in reported violations of religious liberty since Raul Castro took power in early 2008.  CSW

Yemane Kahasay Andom, 43, died on July 23 at Mitire Military Confinement Centre in NE Eritrea. A member of Kale-Hiwot church in Mendefera, Andom was said to be secretly buried in the camp.

Weakened by continuous torture, Andom was suffering from a severe case of malaria. “He was allegedly further weakened by continuous physical torture and solitary confinement in an under-ground cell for the two weeks prior to his death because of his refusal to sign a recantation form.

It is not clear what the contents of the recantation form were, but most Christians interpret the signing of such a form as the denouncement of their faith in Christ,” according to Open Doors.

Andom is the third known Christian to die this year at the Mitire camp. With his death, the number of Christians who have died while imprisoned for their faith in Eritrea totals nine.  ...   More than 2,800 Christians in Eritrea remain imprisoned for their faith .

In May 2002 the government outlawed all religious groups except Islam and the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran churches. President Isaias Afwerki’s government has a campaign against outlawed churches.

Incarcerated Christians from throughout Eritrea have been transferred to the Mitire prison. In April 27 Christian prisoners held at police stations in Asmara were sent to the Mitire camp for further punishment.

On April 17th, 70 Christians, including 11 women, were released from the Mitire military facility. They said that authorities simply told them to go home and had no idea why they had been released.

Eritrean officials have routinely denied that religious oppression exists there.

The government denies all efforts by independent Protestant churches to register.

People caught worshipping outside the four recognized religious institutions, even in private homes, suffer arrest, torture and severe pressure to deny their faith.

The Eritrean Orthodox Church and its flourishing renewal movement have also been subject to government raids. Compass

POPULATION

July 2009 - 5,647,168

Estimated religious percentages:

50% Sunni Muslim,

30% Orthodox Christian,

13% Roman Catholic,Protestant and Seventh Day Adventist,

Under 5% Jehovah’s Witness, Buddhist, Hindu, and Baha’i

On June 10 2009, a Beijing court found Christian bookstore owner Shi Weihan guilty of “illegal business operation”. He was sentenced to three years prison and fined 150,000 yuan (approx. $26,800).

Sources said Shi’s store operated legally and sold only books for which he had obtained government permission; and that his Holy Spirit Trading Co. printed Bibles and Christian literature without authorisation but only for free distribution to local house churches. Others in a printing company who stood trial with Shi have received similar sentences.

Friends and business acquaintances of Shi have described him as a model citizen of China, who has inspired them to love China by his patriotism and love for his homeland. They say he is known for selfless sacrifice on behalf of poor and disenfranchised rural Christians and minority children.

   His wife and two children are under constant surveillance. The two daughters have been ostracised at school as he is in prison.    

Amity Press is the only government approved printer of Bibles in China. Various religious freedom groups dispute that Amity Press prints enough Bibles for China, as a large share of those they print are exported and those sold domestically are not available to many Chinese.

In recent months, there have continued to be reports of attacks on Christians in several states, including Madhya Pradesh, Karnakata, Andra Pradesh, Assam, and Tamil Nadu.

Reports include Christians being accused of forcibly converting people to Christianity, of being detained at police stations, and of being beaten. Church property has been destroyed.

   On July 10, Hindu militants in Chitradurga city barged into a tea stall attended by Sharada, wife of Pastor Nagaraj and questioned her about her faith and demanded to know how much money her family received for converting people to Christianity. They accused her and her husband of forcible conversion, and threatened to burn her alive.

   Sharada was dragged to the police station where a complaint was filed against her. Pastor Nagaraj was summoned to the station. On his arrival he was beaten by the militants while police watched.

In Karnataka, four Christians were beaten and accused of forcible conversion by Hindus on July 18 and taken to a police station. Later that night they were presented before a magistrate and sent to Bangalore Central Jail.    Compass, VOM

During the Sri Lankan civil war, Christians on both sides have suffered dreadfully, both during the fighting and afterwards.

The Sir Lankan government policy on refugee camps in the north, and Manik Farm in particular, is that “Manik Farm is a welfare village” where children can go to school, parents can get vocational training, and medical and social care. However, no-one is allowed into Manik farm, and none of the 280,000 Tamil civilians are allowed out.

Relatives gather at the barbed wire fence hoping to get messages to their loved ones. There is current concern at the worsening conditions viz. tuberculosis, typhoid,  skin  and  respiratory  infections, hepatitis A, scabies and diarrhea. Over 35% of children under five years old suffer acute malnutrition.

The government claims most of the refugees will be able to return to their homes by the end of the year; and they will open up the camps after they screen out former Tamil Tiger rebels; and they cannot return civilians to their former homes until the north is de-mined and certified safe by the United Nations.

However, three people in the de-mining process have said, “De-miners have been barred from all but a tiny corner of the former war zone”. Ethnic Tamil MP, Mano Ganesan, said he feared the government was using the mines as an excuse to keep civilians out, so it could set up armed military camps there. AP