Sudan & Burma: Christian refugees in peril

By Elizabeth Kendal
Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin (RLPB) 145 
Special to ASSIST News Service

AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- -- this is a call for urgent prayer for imminently imperilled Nuba and Kachin refugees.

SUDAN: NUBA GENOCIDE LOOMS

When Khartoum began ethnic cleansing South Kordofan in June 2011, there were an estimated one million non-Arab, non-Muslim, predominantly Christian Nuba in the state. Today more than half that number have been either killed or displaced. To maximise casualties, the Arabist-Islamist regime of Sudan president Omar el-Bashir (an indicted war criminal) closed the region off to humanitarian aid so as to engineer famine. Now the UN estimates that by March up to 500,000 Nuba will be dying en masse due to famine.

A coalition of Christian, Jewish and interfaith anti-genocide groups are urging the American government to intensify its efforts to convince Khartoum to open a corridor for the delivery of humanitarian aid. Aware this might fail, they are also urging the US administration to consider delivering aid without Khartoum's consent, an act they acknowledge would be fraught with risk. Khartoum insists it will never let aid organisations reward 'rebels'. Furthermore, without citing any evidence, it has accused the aid organisations of arming rebels. Khartoum would surely view any unsanctioned incursion as a hostile and provocative act and doubtless declare it to be a trigger for war. The situation is extremely delicate.

Grave fears are held for some 200,000 starving Nuba refugees slowly making their way south through the Kauda Valley, headed for the Yida refugee camp in South Sudan which is already home to about 24,000 Nuba refugees. Digital Globe images made public by Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) show that the Government of Sudan has moved Sudan Armed Forces' tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and artillery into the southern end of the valley, creating a fortified 'choke-point' which is preventing refugees from escaping south. SSP images also reveal that the runway at nearby Talodi has recently been extended to handle Antonovs (used as bombers). Satellite images also show new elevated roads being built into the Nuba Mountains, capable of bearing heavy military vehicles in all weather conditions. Images also reveal that helicopter gunships have arrived at the renovated airbase in the capital, Kadugli. Observers believe the regime will want to complete any military offensive and genocide before the onset of the rainy season due in around 8 weeks.

BURMA: KACHIN SITUATION IS DIRE

Behind the regime's smokescreen of token reforms-of-convenience, Burma's ethnic-religious minorities are suffering more than ever. Zetty Brake of Burma Campaign Australia told Radio Australia on 6 February that the situation for these minorities is actually getting worse: conflict is increasing as are human rights abuses, whilst some 60,000 displaced Christian Kachin are still without humanitarian aid. Similarly, the UN estimates that about 55,000 Kachin IDPs (internally displaced persons) in two dozen IDP camps are struggling to survive without basic aid. People are dying of preventable illnesses caused by cold weather and unsanitary conditions. Most of the children suffer diarrhoea and stomach parasites due to dirty drinking water. There is fear that diseases will spread. Women are suffering miscarriages at an increased rate. The situation is dire. Ben Rogers of Christian Solidarity Worldwide recently returned from the Burma-China border saying he heard some of the worst stories of human rights violations that he had ever heard in his almost 15 years of involvement in Burma. Please pray for the Christian Kachin. Also, the Burma Day of Prayer onSaturday 17 March 2012 is a date for church calendars. Seehttp://www.csw.org.uk/prayforburma.htm for resources.

For background on Sudan and/or Burma, or to see this prayer bulletin with links, see the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT --

• the God who saved Israel from Pharaoh's army by enabling their escape through the supposedly impenetrable Red Sea, will save the Nuba from el-Bashir's genocidal schemes.'The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.' (Moses, to the trapped and imminently imperilled Israelites on the shore of the Red Sea, Exodus 14:14 NIV)
  
• the LORD of creation, who fed 5000 men and all the women and children present from five loaves and two fish, might magnify all efforts and multiply all provision so that the displaced Nuba and Kachin will not starve. (Matthew 14:15-21) 'I am with you always . . .' (Jesus' promise from Matthew 28:20)
  
• Jesus Christ our LORD, who himself lived as a refugee in Egypt, might speak with empathy into the hearts of all his displaced children in Sudan, South Sudan and Burma, drawing them to him for healing, provision and empowerment. (Isaiah 40:27-31)

SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
----------------------------------------------------------------------
CHRISTIAN REFUGEES IMPERILLED IN SUDAN & BURMA

The UN estimates 500,000 mostly Christian Nuba fleeing ethnic-religious cleansing in South Kordofan, Sudan, will be dying en masse from famine by March. Furthermore, some 200,000 Nuba are trapped in the Kauda Valley, unable to cross into South Sudan because their escape route is blocked by Sudan Armed Forces. Further to having engineered famine, the Arabist-Islamist regime in Khartoum appears to be preparing for a military offensive. It is extending runways, building roads and bringing in bombers, helicopter gunships, tanks and other military hardware. In Burma, an estimated 55,000 Christian Kachin refugees, driven from their homes by Burmese forces during seven months of war, remain without aid. Children are dying and women are miscarrying -- the situation is dire. These are God's children and our brothers and sisters. Please pray.

---

Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. This prayer bulletin was initially written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (AEA RLC). Elizabeth Kendal's blogs: Religious Liberty Monitoring and Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

U.S. Refugee Clampdown Leaves Iraqi Christians in Limbo

By Julian Lukins 
Special to ASSIST News Service

SEQUIM, WA (ANS) -- Hundreds of Christians fleeing persecution in Iraq have had their bid to resettle in the United States dashed by new security measures.

Iraqi refugees arriving in the US

According to Baltimore-based refugee resettlement agency World Relief, 14,000 refugees have been placed “on hold” overseas since June, creating a “massive” backlog.

Most of them are Iraqis fleeing troubles in Iraq – and about 40 percent of them are persecuted Christians, said World Relief’s Jenny Yang.

Hundreds of refugees – unable to return home because of fears for their safety – have been denied entry to the U.S. as authorities seek to weed out potential terrorists, Yang said.

The clampdown began after two Iraqis were arrested in Kentucky in May and charged with aiding al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Beefed-up background checks have clogged the refugee pipeline, preventing Iraqi Christians and others from receiving clearance to come to the U.S., said Yang, the agency’s advocacy director.

Refugee admissions into the U.S. have nosedived in recent months since the enhanced U.S. Department of Homeland Security checks were introduced, according to David Mills, World Relief’s refugee program manager, who said the agency’s caseload was slashed by a third.

U.S. refugee admissions fell drastically following the 9/11 attacks, but picked up in recent years, approaching pre-9/11 levels.

Iraqi refugees escapting the violence, but still in the Middle East

Nearly half of all Iraqi refugees – 47 percent – were being denied entry to the U.S. because of the new security measures which block anyone with “irregularities” in their case review, Mills said. Irregularities – such as gaps in documentation – are common because many refugees flee their homes at a moment’s notice, often with no official papers. Many Middle Easterners, Iraqis in particular, have similar names and a refugee can be mistakenly confused with a name on a terror watchlist.

“We’ve heard of an 80-year-old grandmother being denied (entry),” Mills said.

The precise reason why individuals are refused refugee status in the U.S. is unclear, Yang said. “When we’ve raised these cases, we’ve not gotten any clear reasons yet,” she said. “It’s causing a lot of confusion.”

Julian Lukins on a reporting trip to Cambodia

Victims of persecution include those who are harassed or discriminated against and those threatened with physical violence or imprisonment because of their religious beliefs.

The clampdown is especially hurting Iraqi Chaldean Christians, according to Rafat Ita, a social worker in the Detroit area where 160,000 Chaldeans live – the largest settlement outside Iraq.

“These (Christian refugees) cannot go back to Iraq because they could be killed,” he said. “Now they are stuck in neighboring countries where they cannot work, cannot go to school and cannot worship freely. The only hope they have is to come to America and now that hope is in ruins.”

Ita, an Iraqi Chaldean immigrant who works with Lutheran Social Services, said refugee admissions had slowed to a trickle and he does not see the situation changing any time soon.

Iraqi Christians living in the Detroit area are desperate to be reunited with close family members stranded overseas.

“We’re not a violent group,” Ita said. “We’re Christians who believe in peace.”

Meanwhile, Christians and others fleeing religious persecution in Iran have hit a stumbling block to beginning a new life in America, traditionally a place of refuge for Iranian evangelicals fearful for their lives.

Hundreds of persecuted Iranian Christians are in limbo in Austria after the sudden halt of a U.S. program aimed at protecting religious minorities. Since 1989, the U.S. program has given asylum to 440,000 persecuted Christians and others from Iran, as well as Christians and Jews from the former Soviet Union.

More than a hundred members of the U.S. Congress are pushing for the program to be re-started, calling it “a critical safety valve.”

---

Julian Lukins, a former daily newspaper reporter in the UK, is a writer and journalist based in Washington State. He has reported extensively on Christian persecution and other issues affecting Christians worldwide. He can be contacted by e-mail at: jlukins@msn.com

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.