Persecution

These days, one of Egypt’s most well-known converts to Christianity is living a mobile lifestyle, but not by choice.

Maher El Gohary, the second Egyptian to legally request to change his religious status, and his 15-year-old daughter, Dina, are living like “fugitives,” the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

Every few months, the father and daughter move to a new apartment to escape the Muslim extremists who want them dead for leaving Islam. No matter where they are, Gohary is always in suspense and tries to be as low-key as possible to escape the attention of neighbors. more >>

Two Coptic Christians in Egypt have been arrested and are being held without charge after reporting to police they had been beaten by a mob, an attorney for the men said Wednesday.

On the evening of July 31, Reda Hnein, 35, his brother Nagi Hnein Fawzi, 27, and their uncle Youssef Fawzi Iskandar, 58, all Coptic farmers, were leading a cow down a road in the village of Al-Fashn when the attack happened. Al-Fashn is about 87 miles (140 kilometers) south of Cairo along the Nile River in the state of Minya.

During the trip, two Muslim men riding a motorbike crashed into the cow. An argument ensued, and a mob of about 10 other Muslim men joined into the disagreement and began beating the Copts with sticks, said Ihab Ramzi, an attorney representing the three Coptic men. more >>

A year after the worst anti-Christian violence in India’s democratic history, more than 4,000 Christians are reportedly still stuck in squalid refugee camps, too scared to return to their villages.

If they return to their homes, these Christians risk death or forcible conversion to Hinduism by extremists, reported persecution watchdog Open Doors.

The government, even after one year, has failed to establish security in the eastern state where last fall at least 120 people were murdered, 250 churches, destroyed and over 50,000 individuals, displaced. more >>

A U.K. group that aids the persecuted church expressed deep concern about the “appalling” living conditions of Christians in a squalid refugee camp in downtown Islamabad.

According to a recent CNN Behind the Scene story, some 2,000 Christians are living in tents under 110 degree heat with their only source of water – used for drinking and washing – running over a trash site.

Journalist Cal Perry reports that two people have died during the three months the camp has housed the Christians, and “children lay in the sun, totally exposed to the sun, suffering slowly.” more >>

WASHINGTON – What started off as a typical press conference turned into a heated exchange Monday when two Egyptian American Muslims challenged statements made by the Coptic Christian speakers.

At the press event, the Coptic panel, which included representatives from Voice of the Copts, National American Coptic Assembly, and Young People, decried Eyptian President Hosni Mubarak over the grave human rights situation in the predominantly Muslim country and denounced his visit to the United States. Two Muslims who joined the audience, however, took offense to some of the comments.

Both sides criticized the Mubarak administration as corrupt and said they wanted greater respect for religious freedom in Egypt. But arguments began when one of the speakers linked sharia, or Islamic law, to the kidnapping of Coptic girls in Egypt. more >>