RLPB 400. March Update. Incl. Egypt, Syria, Eritrea, India, Assyrians in Iraq; Nigeria, Prisoners in Iran and China; Somalia, West Africa

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 400 | Wed 29 Mar 2017

by Elizabeth Kendal

Please forward this prayer bulletin widely, and encourage others to sign up to the Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin blog. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." (James 5:16 NIV)


MARCH 2017 UPDATE -- this month we prayed concerning ...

* EGYPT (RLPB 396), after 'Islamic State in Egypt' threatened Coptic Christians in North Sinai and called for IS sympathisers to report the whereabouts of Copts. Seven Copts were murdered in a matter of weeks, triggering an exodus of Copts from the Sinai.

UPDATE: According to the spokesman for the Coptic Orthodox Church, Rev Boulos Halim, an estimated 310 Coptic families were uprooted during the crisis in late February and early March; other sources report higher figures. Whilst around 200 families have settled in Ismailia (on the Suez Canal), other families are settling in Port Said, Asyut, Minya, Sharqia, Gharbia and Cairo. Kasr al-Dobara Evangelical Church in Ismailia has registered the displaced Copts to ensure they receive ongoing assistance. Many believe they will never be able to return to their homes. Despite this being 'the largest wave of collective displacement in Egypt since the June 1967 war' (Al-Monitor, 20 March) the international response continues to be one of stone cold silence. Pray for Egypt and its Church.

* XINJIANG, CHINA (RLPB 397), where a massive security crackdown is under way. Though focused primarily on Islamic jihadists and separatists, the Communist Party is keen to consolidate its control over all of society. Consequently, the Church in Xinjiang -- especially the house church movement -- is experiencing increased repression and persecution.

* EGYPT (RLPB 398), where Coptic Christian girls are disappearing into the hands of Islamic trafficking gangs and sexual slavery at the rate of one girl every two days.

* DAMASCUS, SYRIA (RLPB 399), where a new al-Qaeda-led jihadist coalition known as Hay'at Tahrir al Sham (HTS: 'Assembly for the Liberation of Syria') is threatening security in the capital.

UPDATE: On Tuesday 21 March, HTS fighters staged a car bombing in the Abassiyin area of north-eastern Jobar district. Just 2km from the walls of the Old City, it is the same district HTS invaded on 15 March. As would be expected, the Syrian Army's response has been ferocious. Despite having been driven back, HTS still boasts its ability to strike terror. With HTS threatening Damascus and Hezbollah threatening Israel (from southern Syria), the situation is growing increasingly complicated. Pray for Syria and its imperilled, remnant Church.


MARCH 2017 ROUND-UP -- also this month ...

* ERITREA: IMPRISONED AND ABUSED TO DEATH

click on map to enlarge

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reports that two Protestant Christian women who had been detained in Wi'a military camp died in Massawa Hospital on 17 March, five days after being admitted. Imprisoned for their faith, the women had commenced a hunger strike in protest at their treatment. CSW has learned that the women's bodies showed clear evidence of violent sexual abuse. When the women died the authorities confiscated their medical records, doubtless to eliminate evidence of human rights abuses. CSW has also learned that a significant number of Christians were arrested on Christmas Eve and forcibly marched barefoot to an unknown location. Eritrea is one of the most violently repressive and abusive totalitarian states in the world. Christianity has been under sustained and targeted attack since 2002. Pray Psalm 10 for Eritrea; pray the LORD will intervene.

* INDIA: IMPUNITY EMBOLDENS ATTACKERS

On 17 March Assemblies of God pastor Ajay Kumar and Bible college student Assaryav were lured into a trap in Begusarai, Bihar state and then bashed by Hindu militants. Not only did police not intervene, they subsequently arrested the two Christians on charges of 'forcible conversions'. Kumar and Assaryav remained in custody until after midnight when they were released on bail, charged with 'deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India' under sections 295/295-A of the Indian Penal Code. A minority comprised mostly of the poor and marginalised, the Indian Church has little voice or influence inside India. The situation is extremely serious.

'I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.' (Psalm 121:1-2 ESV)

UTTAR PRADESH ELECTIONS (update to RLPB 394): The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured a landslide win in Uttar Pradesh. Opting to ride to power on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who campaigned on a platform of economic development, the BJP did not even name a candidate for Chief Minister. Only when it had won a majority -- securing 225 of the 403 seats -- did the BJP name hard-line Hindu cleric Yogi Adityanath (44) [click here for profile] as the new Chief Minister. A New York Times editorial described this as 'a shocking rebuke to religious minorities', adding that 'nothing stands in the [BJP's] way of realising its long-held dream of transforming a secular republic into a Hindu state'. Pray for India and its Church.

* IRAQ: DISPLACED ASSYRIANS NEED ONGOING AID

Sources have told World Watch Monitor that the supplies sustaining displaced Assyrian Christians in northern Iraq could run out 'within weeks'. However, they do note that the UN agencies which have long ignored the Assyrians have changed their outlook since US President Donald Trump threatened to reduce US funding to the UN, and are now pledging more assistance. Without ongoing aid, the remnant Assyrians -- whose numbers have fallen from 1.4 million in 1987 to around 200,000 today (most of whom are displaced and destitute) -- 'could disappear within the next six to 12 months'. They are indeed 'a threatened people on the verge of extinction, the victims of horrific genocide'.  Pray that the Lord will supply all their needs, realising that while God does work miracles, more often than not he works through his Church, through us, his  'human instruments'. [See www.ElizabethKendal.com/Action ]

* NIGERIA: CHRISTIANS KILLED AS FULANI EXPAND SOUTH

Christians continue to be killed and driven from their homes and farms by southward migrating Fulani Muslims who appear to be guaranteed impunity. Morning Star News reports that on 11 March suspected Muslim Fulani herdsmen killed at least six Christians in Tombo-Mbalagh, Benue state, bringing the total number of Christians killed in rural areas of Benue so far this year to 29. In neighbouring Nasarawa state, more than 200 have been killed and 500 wounded since the start of this year, while homes and farms have been destroyed. Two Christians (including a village chief) were killed and hundreds displaced when Fulani attacked a local congregation of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) in Oshugu village on Sunday 19 March. Commenting on the constant state of insecurity one survivor lamented, 'no one is doing anything about it'. Pray for God to intervene in Nigeria.
 
* PRISONERS ALERT: IRAN AND CHINA

Iranian Christian convert, Maryam Naghash Zargaran, is again in urgent need of medical care [RLPB 372 (24 Aug 2016)]. Maryam, an evangelist who has been incarcerated in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since March 2013, suffers with Atrial Septal Defect, a congenital heart defect also known as 'hole in the heart'. Due for release in July 2017, Maryam is struggling with serious depression and weight loss, along with other symptoms consistent with a deteriorating heart condition. Please pray.

Pastor Yang Hua
See: China Aid Association

ALSO in urgent need of medical care is Yang Hua, pastor of the 700-member, Protestant Living Stone Church in China's Guizhou Province. Arrested in January 2016, Yang -- who had been resisting pressure to register the church with the Communist-controlled Three Self Patriotic Movement -- was sentenced on 26 December to two-and-a-half years in prison for allegedly 'divulging state secrets'. Today Yang Hua's legs are so severely inflamed that he is at risk of paralysis. Without treatment his condition could require amputation. He has been given pain killers, but not the prescribed penicillin or specialist care. Denial of medical care is in reality a form of torture. Please pray. 

'Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.' (Hebrews 13:3 ESV)

* SOMALIA: MORE CHRISTIANS ASSASSINATED 

Morning Star News reports that one night in February, armed militants from al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab broke into the home of a Christian convert family in Afgoi, in Somalia's Lower Shebelle Region. Shouting 'Allahu Akbar' they shot converts Suleiman Abdiwahab (38), his wife Faduma Osman (35) and their son Ahmed Suleiman (11). Neighbours rushed in to find Suleiman critically wounded with bullet wounds to his chest; his wife and son dead. Three other children aged 13, 9 and 7 managed to escape. The neighbours took Suleiman to hospital; the family has since been relocated. May God bring healing to this grieving and traumatised family and protect and preserve his imperilled Church in Somalia.

* WEST AFRICA: JIHADIST COALITION FORMED
Just as it has done in Syria, al-Qaeda is advancing its strategic policy of jihadist unity in West Africa. On 2 March four jihadist entities -- Ansar Dine, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Sahara branch, Al Murabitoon and the ethnic Fulani 'Katibat Macina' -- announced they had merged to form Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims). The Mali-based coalition is loyal to al-Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri and AQIM head Abdelmalek Droukdel. This is bad news for the Church and all Christian people-groups across West Africa. It further raises the stakes in volatile IVORY COAST which was recently rocked by mutinies in the former rebel capital of Bouake and at a Special Forces base in Adiake just 90km east of the port city of Andijan. [See Ivory Coast: Troubles Far From Over, by Elizabeth Kendal, 9 March 2017.] May God protect and preserve the Church in West Africa.

'Put not your trust in princes ... Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God ... The Lord loves the righteous ... but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.' (From Psalm 146)

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Elizabeth Kendal is an international religious liberty analyst and advocate. She serves as Director of Advocacy at Canberra-based Christian Faith and Freedom (CFF), and is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam at Melbourne School of Theology.

She has authored two books: Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today (Deror Books, Melbourne, Australia, Dec 2012) which offers a Biblical response to persecution and existential threat; and, After Saturday Comes Sunday: Understanding the Christian Crisis in the Middle East (Wipf and Stock, Eugene, OR, USA, June 2016).

See www.ElizabethKendal.com 

RLPB 235. Eritrea: persecution fills prisons, fuels refugee crisis

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 235 | Wed 06 Nov 2013

ERITREA: PERSECUTION FILLS PRISONS, FUELS REFUGEE CRISIS
Plus -- tensions high in Egypt and Pakistan
By Elizabeth Kendal

In 2001 the Eritrean government cancelled elections, arrested political opponents and closed down independent media. Determined to eliminate anything that could threaten national cohesion, the regime extended the repression in May 2002 to 'foreign' and 'non-traditional' religious groups. That meant all except the state-sanctioned Muslim, Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Lutheran denominations were banned. Since then, many thousands of mostly evangelical Christians have suffered severely at the hands of a regime known for its human rights abuses, appalling prison conditions and widespread use of torture. Even teenagers are not spared and must complete military service in military training camps before they can graduate from school. Separated from their parents, religious persecution in these camps is systematic and severe. (See RLPB 221, Eritrea: systematic persecution of Protestant youths, 30 July 2013).

World Watch Monitor reports that during the week of 14 October, Wehazit Berhane Debesai, an Eritrean Christian woman in her 30s, died in custody after a year of harsh imprisonment. Wehazit died of pneumonia after being denied medical treatment because she refused to deny her faith. On 28 October Eritrean security forces raided a prayer meeting in Maitemenai, a suburb north of the capital Asmara. They arrested between 70 Christians (as reported by Open Doors) and 185 Christians (according to Release International). Where they are is not yet confirmed. The total number of Eritrean believers currently incarcerated for their faith is estimated at 1500.

On 24 October the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea, Sheila B Keetharuth, raised the issue of Eritrea's human rights in the UN General Assembly. She noted that serious human rights abuses are behind the flight of up to 3000 Eritreans each month. 'The current human rights picture is desperately bleak,' she told journalists. 'People feel trapped in a long hopeless situation.' Later, several NGOs jointly hosted  a side meeting on Eritrea at which five Eritrean victims gave their personal testimonies. Elsa Chyrum, Director of Human Rights Concern Eritrea, noted: 'Although the human rights situation is extremely alarming in Eritrea, this is the first time that it has been brought to the attention of the General Assembly by the UN-appointed Special Rapporteur. It is clear the recent Lampedusa tragedy which resulted in the loss of over 350 lives, the vast majority of whom were Eritreans, has had an impact on the consciences of many state governments, leading to questions being asked relating to the root causes of those who were fleeing.' Indeed, not only were most of the refugees involved in the Lampedusa tragedy Eritreans, but according to Father Mussie Zerai, Chairman of the Habeshia Agency which works on behalf of these migrants, the majority of those Eritreans were Christians.

According to a recently published report from the Feinstein International Center, Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA, those fleeing Eritrea usually employ people smugglers to take them north through Sudan to Libya before they embark on the dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean to the EU. Alternatively they may go north through eastern Sudan and Egypt to Israel, or south into Ethiopia, South Sudan and beyond. The route through eastern Sudan is especially high risk. Increasingly Bedouin traffickers are kidnapping Eritrean refugees straight out of Sudanese refugee camps. The Eritreans are then taken to concrete bunker torture chambers in the Sinai (Egypt) where they are tortured while money is extorted from their relatives via mobile phone. A Catholic nun who serves the Eritrean community in Israel says they recently heard that 'with God's help, 150 people escaped from the torture camps, as a result of the chaotic situation prevailing in the Sinai following the attacks by the Egyptian army. But the escapees have disappeared; we do not know what has happened to them.'

The trafficking of Eritrean refugees has become an extremely lucrative business. As noted in RLPB 205 -- Egypt: evil thrives in lawless Sinai (10 April 2013) -- the corruption trail stretches right back to Eritrea where the regime is busy not only creating refugees but in profiting from their misery.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT GOD WILL --

* break the arm (the mechanism of action) of the wicked (Psalm 10:15) who profit from misery. Lord, eliminate the demand by destroying the Bedouin trafficking rings and Sinai torture chambers. Lord, eliminate the corruption by heaping consequences on those who profit from human suffering. Lord, eliminate the supply by bringing radical change to Eritrea so that the flow of refugees might cease at its source. 

* break the arm of the wicked who inflict violence and torture on the Lord's beloved. Lord, convict them of sin, soften their hearts, restrain or remove them.

Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer;
    call his wickedness to account till you find none. (Psalm 10:15 ESV)

* protect, sustain and comfort his suffering people, providing them with all their needs.

* bring revival to Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran state-sanctioned churches, so that disunity will dissolve and believers will love, care for and cover one another; may the Lord so work in the Eritrean Church that she is refined as pure silver for future ministry and for the glory of God.


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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ERITREAN PERSECUTION FILLS PRISONS, FUELS REFUGEE CRISIS

Up to 3000 Eritreans flee persecution every month. Their extreme danger was shown by the recent Lampedusa tragedy. The vast majority of over 350 lives lost were Eritreans, most of whom were Christians. Those fleeing for asylum via Israel risk falling into the hands of Bedouin traffickers in eastern Sudan. These victims of the Bedouin are tortured so as to extort money from their relatives. Despite the risks, the situation in Eritrea is so horrendous that the flow continues. Some 1500 Christians are currently incarcerated in Eritrea purely because of their faith. On 14 October another young Christian died in captivity. On 28 October a prayer meeting was raided and over 70 believers were arrested. Please pray for God to intervene in Eritrea.

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Also, TENSIONS ARE HIGH IN:

* Egypt, where the trial of Mohamed Morsi has began. Minutes into the first session (3 November) the trial was adjourned to 8 January 2014, due to courtroom chaos. Pray that God will surround his people and protect Christian churches, schools, hospitals and other property from reprisal attacks by Muslim Brotherhood supporters.

* Pakistan, after the 1 November drone assassination of Hakeemullah Mehsud, the emir of the al Qaeda-linked Tehreek-e-Taliban.  Pray that God will surround his people and protect Christian churches, schools, hospitals and other property from Taliban reprisal attacks.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)

RLPB 207. April Update, Incl. Bangladesh, Egypt (Sinai), Azerbaijan, Egypt (Cairo), Somalia, Syria

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 207 | Wed 24 Apr 2013

By Elizabeth Kendal

ATTENTION Melbourne, Australia: The Centre for the Study of Islam and Other Faiths (CSIOF) will officially launch Elizabeth Kendal's book -- Turn Back the Battle -- at Melbourne School of Theology (MST) on Tuesday 30 April at 10am. Local intercessors welcome! Subsequent to this, Elizabeth will host a symposium entitled, 'Confronting Persecution in the 21st C'. Date and venue: Wednesday 15 May from 7pm at Glen Waverley Anglican Church (supper provided). Again -- all welcome.

APRIL 2013 UPDATE -- During April we prayed concerning . . . 

* BANGLADESH (RLPB 204), where a long struggle for the heart and soul of Bangladesh appears to be entering a critical and dangerous stage.

UPDATE: Having displayed their people-power by bringing hundreds of thousands of supporters out onto the streets, Hefajat-e-Islam has given the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina an ultimatum: meet their 13-point demand by the end of the month or they will lay siege to Dhaka on 5 May. The Islamists are demanding the enactment of blasphemy laws with a penalty of death for those found guilty of defaming Islam. The PM is rejecting this, assuring the Islamists that current laws can be used to punish defamation of Islam. It is highly unlikely that the Islamists will be satisfied with the PM's compromise. A showdown is imminent. Meanwhile, the masses are polarising and Islamist violence against vulnerable minorities is escalating. (Details: RLM 7 April)

* EGYPT -- LAWLESS SINAI (RLPB 205), where refugees being trafficked are tortured for ransom and routinely killed. The refugees -- mostly Eritreans, many of whom are Christians fleeing religious persecution -- are kidnapped from Sudanese refugee camps and sold to Bedouin gangs in the Sinai. Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt refuse to do anything to stop what is a highly lucrative business that is hurting only people about whom they care absolutely nothing. Pray that the Lord of Hosts will bring justice to the Sinai (Isaiah 59:15b-19).

UPDATE: Egypt is pouring tanks into the north-eastern Sinai in breach of its peace accords with Israel, ostensibly to tackle terrorism (which does not include human trafficking). May God's will be done! Pray for radical change in Eritrea, the source of the humanitarian problem.

* UZBEKISTAN (RLPB 206), where Protestants, most of whom are converts from Islam, are systematically harassed and persecuted by the local population as well as by the authorities who regard them as a threat to social cohesion. Fines for unregistered Christian witness and worship are massive.

APRIL 2013 ROUND-UP -- also this month . . .

* AZERBAIJAN: BAPTISTS HIT WITH EXORBITANT FINES

Forum 18 reports that two Baptists in Azerbaijan's north-eastern Zakatala District have been fined the equivalent of more than a year's minimum wage for violating Article 299.0.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences, that punishes clergy and religious associations holding unregistered meetings. The two Baptists -- Pastor Zaur Balaev and Hamid Shabanov -- have both previously spent time in prison for their faith. Their church has been seeking state registration since 1994, but to no avail. Pastor Balaev (whose wife is suffering with cancer) said that, though he cannot pay, he will not appeal the fine as he knows he broke the law. 'I would rather take the State Committee to court for refusing to register us for so many years,' he said. Pray for the Balaev and Shabanov families and for the Church in Azerbaijan.

* EGYPT: ST MARK'S CATHEDRAL, CAIRO, ATTACKED DURING FUNERAL

On Friday 5 April an imam in Khusus (a poor area on the outskirts of Cairo) issued a call from the mosque: 'Kill the Christians and cleanse Al Khusus' of 'infidels'. Four local Copts were killed in the subsequent Islamic pogrom. On Sunday 7 April, as Coptic Christians gathered at St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo for the funeral of the four, Muslims came and started stoning the mourners. The mob grew as more and more Muslims joined in, many arriving with weapons, including guns and Molotov cocktails. Cairo police took more than an hour to respond and when they did arrive, they did nothing to quell the attack. Live TV footage shows most police remaining motionless throughout the attack, while some actually join in, lobbing tear gas grenades into the church compound. One Copt died from gunshot wounds whilst dozens were wounded. The economy is in decline, food security is precarious and Islamic intolerance is soaring. Egypt is a tinderbox! Pray for the Church in Egypt, a land of promise (Isaiah 19:16-25).

* SOMALIA: 'WHO CAN HEAL YOU?' (Lamentations 2:13).

On 8 December 2012 al-Shabaab militants shot and killed Mursal Isse Siad (55) outside his home in Beledweyne, 332km (206 miles) north of Mogadishu, in retaliation for his leaving Islam for Christianity. Siad's widow, Fartun Omar (42) gathered up their five children and fled from the house. Rumours were circulating that al-Shabaab was hunting for her because she, like her husband, was a secret Christian. Therefore Omar decided to leave Beledweyne and seek refuge with relatives. Morning Star News reports that on 10 April the family boarded a bus which was subsequently stopped at an al-Shabaab roadblock. After screening all the passengers, the militants ordered everyone back on the bus including Omar's children, but having recognised Omar, they kept her. By 13 April it had been confirmed that Omar had been executed for her faith. Whilst Said and Omar's five children are safe in the custody of a neighbour, they have lost both parents. Pray for the Church in Somalia.

'. . . let tears stream down like a torrent day and night! . . . Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift up your hands to him [our Lord the healer] for the lives of your children . . .' (Lamentations 2:18,19 ESV) (emphasis mine)

* SYRIA: 'YOUR RUIN IS AS VAST AS THE SEA' (Lamentations 2:13).

On Monday 22 April two of Syria's most senior Christian clerics --  Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim, head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo, and Bishop Boulos Yaziji, head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Aleppo -- were kidnapped by foreign, non-Arabic speaking terrorists. Middle East Concern reports that the two bishops were on a humanitarian trip to an area near the border with Turkey as part of the negotiations for the release of two priests kidnapped on 9 February. Bishop Ibrahim, his driver and another Christian drove to the Turkish border to collect Bishop Yaziji at a rebel-held border crossing. Subsequently, as the four were returning to Aleppo their car was ambushed and the bishops kidnapped at gunpoint. The driver (a priest) was murdered, while the other passenger managed to escape. Pray for the Church in Syria and that the Lord of Hosts will intervene in that land.

'But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases . . .' (Lamentations 3:21,22a ESV).

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah Speaks to Christians Today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)

RLPB 205. Egypt: evil thrives in lawless Sinai

Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 205 | Wed 10 Apr 2013

EGYPT: EVIL THRIVES IN LAWLESS SINAI

By Elizabeth Kendal

It was in the Sinai desert that the nation of Israel received God's law. Consequently we tend to think of the Sinai as a place of law-giving. Today, however, under Egyptian control, the Sinai  (particularly the north-east) is absolutely lawless -- a place of law-breaking. Not only has al-Qaeda established a presence, but Bedouin criminal gangs and human traffickers operate with impunity. The Egyptian government knows that the clusters of concrete buildings dotting the Sinai desert are being used as torture chambers by human traffickers. The traffickers relay their victims' agony to family members or diaspora groups via mobile phone to facilitate payment of ransom. Even when ransom is paid it is not uncommon to find that victims are subsequently sold on to other traffickers who repeat the process. Failure to pay will result in death by torture, including through the extraction of saleable organs. New York Times (NYT) estimates that some 7000 refugees have been abused this way in the past four years and that 4000 of them may have died.

The victims, mostly Eritrean (99 percent) as well as Somali and Sudanese refugees, include many Christians who have fled persecution in their homelands (see RLPBs 185 and 187, November 2012). Most of the victims have been kidnapped from the Shagarab refugee camps in eastern Sudan, home to tens of thousands of Eritrean refugees, and then transferred to the Sinai where they are sold to criminals. Eritrean opposition groups are demanding that Sudan improve security at the camps. Chairman of the Ethiopia-based Eritrean Democratic Alliance (EDA), Tewelde Gebresilase, says human trafficking is carried out by a highly organised network that stretches from Eritrea to the refugee camps in Sudan and to the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It is a highly lucrative business, not only for the Bedouin, but for the Eritrean, Sudanese and Egyptian officials who are involved either directly or indirectly through taking bribes. According to intelligence sources, it is a major form of revenue for the corrupt and wicked regime ruling Eritrea.

On 1 April Amnesty International (AI) released a report entitled 'EGYPT/SUDAN: refugees and asylum seekers face brutal treatment, kidnapping for ransom, and human trafficking'. (Index: AFR 04/001/2013). AI is appealing that Egypt and Sudan should 'make urgent and concerted efforts to stop asylum-seekers and refugees being kidnapped from camps in Sudan, forcibly transported to Egypt, and being severely abused in the Sinai desert'. Reporting on a typical case, AI writes, 'On 22 January 2013, two Eritrean women living in the Shagarab camps set out to go to church, but did not arrive at their destination. Camp residents believe they were kidnapped.'

Recently five Eritreans escaped from their captors during a fierce night storm. Whilst two perished en route, three made it to safety. Mhretab (27) is frail and heavily scarred. 'We had barely anything to eat or drink,' he explains. 'And we weren't allowed to sleep. If we did, they burned us. They scorched the skin on our arms or backs with burning plastic, or they burned us directly with lighters. They hung us from our feet and hit us. If we cried, they called our families and we had to beg them over the phone to pay for us.' By selling everything they owned and taking up a collection at church, Mhretab's family raised the ransom. But instead of releasing Mhretab, his kidnappers sold him on to other human traffickers. Lemlem (15) is totally traumatised. Wearing only a sweater, she asks the home owner if there is any underwear she can put on.

In another case, Ahlam (8) saw her 'parents' brutalised and other hostages murdered. On 12 March her captors put her on the phone to Swedish-Eritrean radio journalist Meron Estefanos. After recalling the horrors she had witnessed, Ahlam confirmed that the traffickers were threatening to take her from her 'parents' and sell her on to another gang. Fortunately for this family, they were released alive in late March after payment of ransom. Ahlam's uncle Adem, who had posed as Ahlam's father so he could stay with the women of the family to afford them some protection, has been hospitalised with serious torture injuries. Ahlam's father negotiated their release from Canada while claiming to be 'a distant relative in Saudi Arabia'. Ms Estefanos told NYT last year that Eritrean relatives sell land and possessions to raise ransoms. 'They borrow money from people, go from church to church,' she said.

This evil thrives because nobody is prepared to act against it. Egyptian President Morsi would say it is not in his interests to pick a fight with criminals who are hurting only non-Arabs and mostly non-Muslims anyway, posing no threat to him personally or politically. The Arab-supremacist, Islamist President Bashir in Khartoum, Sudan, would say the same. As for the Eritrean regime at the source of the problem, it is certainly not in its interests to see its refugees protected or its human trafficking revenues cut off. The whole situation would be totally hopeless were it not for the reality of the Lord of Hosts.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE LORD OF HOSTS --

* who demands 'Let my people go,' will shake the Sinai and break the arm (the mechanism of action) of the wicked (Psalm 10:15), that his people might be delivered and law and order restored to the desert.  

* will send his forces to guard the mostly Eritrean refugees --  many of whom are Christians -- in Sudan's Shagarab camps. 'The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.' (Psalm 34:7 ESV); may all the refugees look to him and put their hope in him.

* will intervene in Eritrea, the source of the problem, to liberate it from its corrupt, repressive and wicked regime.

Please pray Psalm 10 over Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt, '. . . so that man, who is of the earth, may strike terror no more' (v18b ESV).


SUMMARY FOR BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE
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EVIL THRIVES IN LAWLESS SINAI

Political and religious refugees fleeing repression and persecution in Eritrea often end up in eastern Sudan's Shagarab refugee camps. These camps are grossly insecure and refugees are routinely kidnapped and sold to Bedouin criminals in Egypt's lawless Sinai desert. Here they are tortured until ransom is paid. Some are released alive, but many traffickers take the ransom and then sell their victims on to other traffickers. It is estimated  some 7000, mostly Eritrean refugees, have been abused this way in the last four years and that around 4000 may have died. Amongst the victims are many Christians who have fled persecution. Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt have no interest in stopping what is for them a very lucrative business. Please pray for the Lord of Hosts to intervene.

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Elizabeth Kendal is the author of
Turn Back the Battle: Isaiah speaks to Christians today
(Deror Books, Dec 2012)