ISIS is on the run, but persecution of Christians in the region remains extremely high.
Religious advocacy groups are warning that Christians in the Middle East will be a thing of the past if the international community doesn’t step up efforts to protect them.
Elijah Brown, executive vice president for the religious advocacy organization 21st Century Wiberforce told Fox News that, “Unless the global community gets involved, we will witness the loss of Christian witnesses in a land that is biblically significant.”
Report: Christian Persecution has Risen to ‘Dire’ and ‘Unprecedented’ Levels Globally
In a new Fox News report released earlier this month, the outlet stated that Middle Eastern Christians have been forced out of their homes in mass numbers. On a daily basis, thousands flee their homelands of Egypt, Iraq and Syria in search of a place where they can practice their faith free of persecution.
According to news reports from 2016, many Christians have been fleeing in high numbers to Europe and setting up homes in overcrowded refugee camps just so they can live freely.
While other Christians, have reportedly decided to find temporary settlements around their homeland in the hopes that they can go back to their permanent residence once its considered to be safe by national forces and the international community.
In places like Mosul, an area in northwestern Iraq, thousands of Christians and Yazidis have done just that. Until relatively recently, most were on the run from ISIS, a terrorist group that was in control of the region until national Iraqi forces were able to take back power.
REBUILD: See the First Business to Open in Recently Liberated Iraqi Town
As Faithwire previously reported, life under the thumb of ISIS for both Yazidis and Assyrian Christians in Iraq has been brutal. Many of them have lived in fear, experienced regular beatings and threats of persecution.
The International Catholic Charity, Aid to the Church in Need reported back in 2015 that the country of Iraq once had 1.5 million Christians living there, but due to religious persecution there is only 275,000 living across the Nineveh plains of Mosul, an ancient area of the world with biblical ties.
Other places of concern include the war ravaged country of Syria. A middle Eastern state that has had roughly 15,000 Eastern Orthodox Christians forced out due to ongoing fighting between opposition groups, the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the rise of ISIS. In addition to that, the outlet expressed concern for coptic Christians in Egypt. The population mostly lives in Northern Sinai and in recent months, there has been an increase number of hate crimes and killings against them by the Muslim Brotherhood and ISIS.
REPORT: Muslim Mob Torches Egyptian Coptic Christians’ Homes, Hurls Stones in Horrific Attack
To help protect Christians around the world consider donating to Aid to the Church in Need or persecution.org.
(H/T: Fox News)
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