CMWA - City Mission World Association Asia Pacific

MALAYSIA: CHURCHES FIREBOMBED

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:14:33 +0000

MALAYSIA: CHURCHES FIREBOMBED

Eight churches have been attacked in Malaysia following a court decision that allows Christians to use “Allah” in their prayers and publications when referring to God, according to The Associated Press (AP).

On Sunday, Jan. 10, three churches were firebombed. “On Sunday, a Molotov cocktail was hurled at the All Saints Church in Taiping town in central Perak state early in the morning before it opened,” state police chief Zulkifli Abdullah told AP. “Police found burn marks on the wall but there was no damage to the building,” he added. Despite the attacks, thousands of Christians attended services and prayed for unity and an end to the attacks.

The attacks on churches began on Jan. 8 and 9, when four churches were hit with firebombs. “No one was hurt and all suffered little damage, except the Metro Tabernacle Church,” AP said. “Parishioners there moved services after fire gutted the first floor.”

The attacks followed a Dec. 31 High Court decision overturning a government ban prohibiting non-Muslims from using the word “Allah” in prayers and literature. The court had ruled on a petition by Malaysia’s Roman Catholic Church, whose main publication, the Herald, uses the word “Allah” in its Malay-language edition. The government has appealed the verdict.

Leaders of Metro Tabernacle issued a statement to The Star newspaper, forgiving the attackers and thanking the government for condemning the attacks. “We have a congregation of 1,700 who are godly and forgiving,” said Senior Pastor Reverend Ong Sek Leang. “It is a very sad day for Malaysia, but a great day to know that most Malaysians do not think [in a religiously divisive manner].”

The statement of forgiveness was offered as Christian groups, lawyers of all faiths and politicians from the East Malaysia (Borneo) state of Sarawak loudly protested the attacks, The Star reported.

The attacks against churches in Malaysia have targeted varied denominations, and The Voice of the Martyrs encourages you to pray for believers. Pray that they will show grace and love toward the attackers and that their testimonies will draw non-believers into fellowship with Christ.

Source: VOM - http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MjE5

UN rights expert sounds alarm on dire situation of New Delhi’s homeless

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:13:00 +0000

UN rights expert sounds alarm on dire situation of New Delhi’s homeless

20 January 2010 – A United Nations independent human rights expert today voiced concern over the deaths of homeless people in India’s capital from a cold wave, underscoring the need for adequate shelter to protect them from harsh weather.“The lives of hundreds of homeless people in India are at risk as temperatures near zero degrees,” saidRaquel Rolnik, the Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing.

Ten homeless people have lost their lives in the past month in New Delhi, while some 100 people have reportedly died in northern India due to the freezing cold over the last few weeks.

The number of homeless people in India has grown since 2007, but the number of shelters for them has plummeted from 46 to 24 in New Delhi, Ms. Rolnik pointed out.

he lives of hundreds of homeless people in India are at risk as temperatures near zero degrees

This year’s Commonwealth Games appears to be driving the closing down of shelters in New Delhi, with public authorities evicting homeless people and tearing down their places of residence in spite of the frigid temperatures.

Late last month, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi demolished a temporary night shelter on Pusa Road, leaving 250 people without shelter and allegedly resulting in the deaths of two people. In spite of an order by the Delhi High Court on 7 January requesting the immediate restoration of the shelter and the protection of the uprooted families, authorities have yet to help them.

A further 400 people were evicted from an area they were using as shelter at Pul Mitahi, where many construction workers for the Commonwealth Games and Dalit families were living.

Ms. Rolnik, who reports to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, welcomed the Delhi High Court’s ruling and urged authorities to “halt the demolition of homeless shelters, to provide immediate assistance and adequate shelter to the affected persons, and not to evict homeless persons in the winter, on humanitarian grounds.”

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33528&Cr=india&Cr1=

Curbing human trafficking in South-East Asia focus at UN-backed meeting

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:09:46 +0000

Curbing human trafficking in South-East Asia focus at UN-backed meeting

20 January 2010 – Officials from the six countries of South-East Asia’s Mekong region and observers from the United Nations and other stakeholders opened a two-day meeting in Myanmar today to step up the war on human trafficking, including sexual slavery and labour exploitation.“It is only through this kind of coordinated approach and solidarity of the counter-trafficking community that we can make a real difference in the lives of people who are suffering the cruel consequences of human trafficking and exploitation,” UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) regional manager Matthew Friedman told the 7th Senior Officials Meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) in Bagan.

The meeting brings together ministers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, along with observers from the UN, including the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking of Persons Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors.

“COMMIT is unique in that it has fostered unprecedented accountability between the Mekong countries over the past six years,” UN Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli said. “I believe that this unity may be one of our greatest strengths in tackling some of our biggest challenges.”

According to UN International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, 9.49 million people were in forced labour in the Asia-Pacific region as of 2005, with a significant number believed to be in the Mekong region.

Since the signing of a memorandum of understanding six years ago, the six countries have put in place legal and cooperative frameworks to prevent human trafficking taking place, prosecute traffickers and exploitative employers and protect victims, helping them return home safely and with dignity.

The Bagan meeting will take a fresh look at regional approaches to counter trafficking, review plans and priorities, and discuss future joint actions, focusing in particular on law enforcement and the recovery and reintegration of victims.

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33533&Cr=trafficking&Cr1=

IRAQ: ELDERLY CHRISTIAN KILLED

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:03:16 +0000

IRAQ: ELDERLY CHRISTIAN KILLED

On Jan. 11, Hikmat Sleiman, a 75-year-old Christian man, was shot to death by unknown assailants in Mosul, Iraq, according to VOM Canada and Asia News.

Sleiman had just returned home from closing his grocery shop when a group of assailants opened fire, killing him instantly. Local Christians see his murder and a string of other recent attacks against believers as evidence of “ethnic cleansing” designed to force Christians from the area. Some believe Muslim extremists are targeting shopkeepers in an effort to wipe out the Christian community’s economic activity and drive believers from the area.

The Christian community in Iraq is estimated to be 3 percent of Iraq’s population of 26 million, or about 780,000 people. Islamic extremists have targeted Christian leaders, churches and businesses in Iraq since 2003. As a result, many believers have fled.

The Voice of the Martyrs actively supports Christians in Iraq with Action Packs, resources for Christian leaders and evangelistic literature. VOM also distributes the New Testament in Arabic and supports widows through the Families of Martyrs fund in Iraq.

VOM encourages you to pray for those who mourn for Hikmat Sleiman. Pray that his attackers will come to know the Lord as their savior. Ask God to embolden the Christian community in Mosul to proclaim the gospel even while suffering. Pray that Christians in Mosul will be filled with Christ’s peace during these difficult times.

Source: VOM - http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MjIw

Security Council extends mandate of UN mission in Nepal by four months

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:58:36 +0000

Security Council extends mandate of UN mission in Nepal by four months

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BURMA: NOT MY BACKYARD

admin — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 06:56:43 +0000

BURMA: NOT MY BACKYARD

“The world needs to know about the genocide that is happening today in Burma.”

— Patrick Klein, Vision Beyond Borders

The Burmese army is carrying out a massive killing campaign against its people, and the world is unaware, Patrick Klein of Vision Beyond Borders told VOM staff.

According to Patrick, who recently returned from Burma and Thailand, more than 500,000 people have been killed in Burma (also known as Myanmar) in the last 30 years. More than 3,300 villages have been burned to the ground by the Burmese military, and thousands of children have lost parents from brutal attacks by Burmese soldiers. About 1 million Burmese refugees have fled across the border to Thailand, where they wait in uncertainty. At any moment they might be sent back to Burma to face certain death.

Even refugee camps in Thailand are not safe from Burmese soldiers. They frequently cross the shallow river separating Thailand and Burma to poison water supplies and kill or kidnap refugees, whom they sometimes use as human mine sweepers. The Thai generals who rule the area work hand in hand with Burma’s ruling military junta regime and grow rich through the illegal drug trade that profits them both.

Patrick said the genocide is both an ethnic cleansing and a reaction against pro-democracy movements in Burma, but it also has a specifically anti-Christian agenda. When the head of a monastery asked soldiers if he should warn Buddhist monks to leave a conflict area, the soldier replied, “No, we are not going to harm the Buddhists. We are only against the Christians.”

One heavily targeted Burmese minority group is the Karen people. Historically Christian, today about 40 percent of the Karen people are Christians. A Burmese official boldly stated recently, “Soon there will be no Christians in this nation. You will only be able to see a Karen person in a picture in a museum.”

In the midst of this horror, God is at work in Burma. Many people are trusting their lives to God. One of the believers went so far as to tell Patrick, “Without this genocide, maybe this worship would not be happening, and people would not be coming to Christ.”

Patrick said he was saddened and horrified by conditions in the Burmese refugee camps he visited. He heard many stories of suffering, but what affected him most was an enthusiastic worship service by a group of 86 orphans who are cared for by a Baptist pastor. “We had a worship service from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. Then at 10 p.m., the kids came back and asked if we could go on worshiping! They have little happiness in their lives, but what they do have is the joy of the Lord,” Patrick said.

Source: VOM - http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MjIy

China Detains North Korean Defector For Helping American Missionary

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:31:48 +0000

China Detains North Korean Defector For Helping American Missionary

Posted on: 2010-01-17 09:59:06

By Stefan J. Bos Worthy News Chief International Correspondent

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (Worthy News)– A North Korean defector has been detained in China for helping an American missionary cross into North Korea, Korean media said Sunday, January 17, citing Free North Korea Radio.

The arrested activist, who was only identified as Kim, reportedly helped Robert Park last month with crossing the frozen Duman (or Tumen) River, which marks China’s border with the North. Kim was reportedly arrested in possession of video footage of Robert Park’s Christmas Eve crossing.

“We’ve confirmed through various channels that Kim, who was staying at a hideout in Yanji, Jilin Province, was arrested by Chinese police last Friday,” Kim Sung-min, the head of dissident station Free North Korea Radio, said Sunday, January 17, in comments monitored by South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

Kim has reportedly South Korean citizenship, but there was no immediate reaction about the detention from South Korean officials Sunday, January 17.

SPECIAL LETTER

Missionary Park, a U.S. citizen of Korean ancestry, claimed he had seen a vision from God of North Korea’s liberation and redemption, his colleagues said, adding that he crossed the border shouting “I came here to proclaim God’s love”.

The 28-year-old Christian carried with him a letter urging North Korean leader Kim Jong-II to free political prisoners, including Christians, shut down “the concentration camps” where they are held, and open the borders to allow aid teams to enter.

He wrote: “Please open your borders so that we may bring food, provisions, medicine, necessities, and assistance to those who are struggling to survive. Please close down all concentration camps and release all political prisoners today, and allow care teams to enter to minister healing to those who have been tortured and traumatized.” Park added, “All we are asking is for all North Koreans to be free, safe and have life. With Love, Respect and Goodwill towards All People.”

Critics of the North Korean leadership have said it is against reform and that people have been tortured and even executed for opposing the regime or holding Christian worship services. Park has made clear he does not want the U.S. government to try to free him.

NORTH KOREA DETENTION

North Korea has confirmed it has detained Park for “illegally entering the DPRK (North Korea) through the DPRK-China border on December 24.” “He is now under investigation by a relevant organ,” Pyongyang’s Korean Central News Agency said in a December one-paragraph report. Critics have described Park’s action as “reckless” and say it may complicate U.S.-backed talks on ending North Korea’s nuclear program.

However Dr. Steven Price, a friend of Park, told Worthy News and its partner agency BosNewsLife that Park did not seek publicity. We honor deeply Robert Park who went to North Korea to deliver Christs message of love and forgiveness and pray for his safe return.

The United States State Department has expressed concerns about Park’s situation and said Sweden, which represents US interests in Pyongyang in the absence of diplomatic relations, has offered to seek more information.

Source: http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=7370

Pakistan Christian Receives Life Imprisonment For “Blasphemy”

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:17:11 +0000

Posted on: 2010-01-23 01:46:17

By Worthy News Asia Service

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (Worthy News)– A young Christian man was behind bars Saturday, January 23, after being sentenced tolife imprisonment for having “insulted and desecrated” the Koran, seen as a holy book by Muslims.

A court in the town of Faisalabad sentenced Imran Masih, under controversial blasphemy legislation which has been criticizedby international rights groups.

Judge, Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan, handed down the sentence under Article 295-Bof the Pakistan Penal Code because the 26 year old allegedly burnt verses from the Koran and a book inArabic “on purpose”, to “stir up religious hatred and offend the feelings of Muslims,” trial observers said.

Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Catholic Church,suggested that his organization would appeal against the verdict, saying it was important to “battle to save his life.”

CHRISTIAN SHOPKEEPER

Christians said Masih, a shopkeeper by profession, was “brutally tortured” by a group of Muslims in July lastyear before being detained by police on what they described as “fabricated” charges that he had burned pages of the Koran.

The court eventually sentenced Masih to life imprisonment last week, January 11, which he will serve in the federal prisonin Faisalabad where he is currently confined, trial observers said. The court reportedly also imposed an additionalpenalty of 10 years’ imprisonment and payment of 100 thousand rupees ($1,200) under section 295-A of the Penal Code,Christians said.

In published remarks Jacob described the ruling as “not a good verdict” and said it shows a “lack of freedom”of the judiciary. Churches have urged authorities to change blasphemy legislation which they say has been misused byextremists to imprison Christians.

The blasphemy law was introduced in 1986 by Pakistani dictator Zia-ul-Haq and has become an instrumentof discrimination and violence, Christians rights groups say.

AsiaNews, a Catholic website, said the norm is contained in Section 295, paragraph B and C of Pakistan Penal Code and punishes with life imprisonment those who offends the Koran and with the sentencing to death those whoinsult the Prophet Muhammad.

Some 1,000 people are believed to have been indicted, while Christians have reportedly also suffered attacks and dozens of extra-judicial killings in the predominantly Muslim nation. (With reporting by Worthy News’ Stefan J. Bos).

Source: http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=7386

2009 “Worst Year” For Pakistan Christians

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:15:10 +0000

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (Worthy News)– Last year was the worst period of persecution against Christians in Pakistan in thelast decade, with attacks, arrests and detentions that reportedly killed some 130 Christians across the Islamic country, an advocacy group said Thursday, January 21.

In one of the bloodiest single incidents, in August, eight Christians were shot or burnt alive in the town of Gojrain Punjab province when he Christian community was attacked by a mob of 3,000 Muslims over alleged blasphemy of Islam, said the Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS).

Earlier in April, four Christians were injured and one died in an attack on a Christian colony in the city of Karachi, the group explained. And, in July, an attack on the village of Bahmani Wala resulted in “100 houses beingburnt to the ground, looted and vandalized, and the assault of women and girls,” according to CLAAS investigators.

CLAAS said violence was fueled by controversial blasphemy laws. Anyone found guilty of desecratingthe Koran, viewed as a holy book by Muslims, face execution or a lengthy sentence in prison, where conditions are reportedly poor.

“As such, the blasphemy laws are an easy tool in the hands of Muslim extremists who, unlike the Christians, have little to fear in the way of legal repercussions. More often than not, they get off scot free for the atrocities theycommit against Christians, ” added Nasir Saeed, director of CLAAS UK.

“The wave of blasphemy hysteria in the last year has been leveled at Christians more than any other minority community,” he said.

PEOPLE THREATENED

Additionally, suspects, their families, judges, lawyers and defense witnesses are often threatened with death by clerics and Muslim extremists who attend court hearings, CLAAS and other rights groups say.Under blasphemy legislation, a charge can be brought against a suspect with testimony of just one person.

“The suspect is immediately detained in jail where he can remain for months or years before the case is finally brought to trial,” Staeed said. “It is also the fact that they are fomenting hatred and divisions between the majority Muslim population and the Christian minority. By singling out and protecting only one religion, Islam, these laws serve only to elevate Islam to the status of a superiorreligion”.

“Muslim extremists”, he claimed, view the blasphemy laws as “a green light from the state to discriminate against fellow Pakistanis who do not share the same religion,” which leads to “unhesitating acts of violence”.

“UNDERLYING HATRED”

“This underlying hatred could be seen clearly in several incidents last year. ” CLAAS has campaigned the blasphemy laws to be repealed and last year handed in a petition signed by over 9,000 people to the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva, he said.

The government says however it is cracking down on extremism and has banned militant groups such as Sipah-i-sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhvangi. However CLAAS official Staeed said these moves have “not been sufficient to stop attacks on religious minorities.”

He said blasphemy laws should be addressed “to discourage acts of violence against Christians, be they large scale attacks on communities or lone extremists with a personal grudge.” (With reporting by Worthy News’ Stefan J. Bos).

Source: http://www.christianpersecution.info/index.php?view=7393

Loan from UN agricultural fund aims to help Pakistan’s farmers increase crop yield

admin — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:24:39 +0000

13 November 2009 – At least 25,000 poor rural households in Pakistan are expected to benefit from $18.3 million in funding from the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) that will help them maximize crop yields.The funds will go towards the Crop Maximization Support Project, an initiative begun in response to the surge in food prices last year. It aims to increase crop production in 10 districts in the provinces of Balochistan, Punjab, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Almost two thirds of the population, and 80 per cent of Pakistan’s poor people, live in rural areas and agriculture is a mainstay of the economy, but the sector needs help to boost yields, according to the Rome-based IFAD, which signed the loan agreement with the Government on Wednesday.

The Crop Project also promotes gender and poverty mainstreaming in Pakistan’s national crop productivity project, by supporting the formation of special interest groups of women and the landless, promote their involvement in community development, and enhance their access to financial resources.

To date, IFAD has funded 23 projects and programmes in Pakistan for a total investment of about $460 million.

Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32950&Cr=ifad&Cr1=