Only two Syrian Christian refugees admitted into U.S.
Out of a total of 281 refugees, the U.S. State Department has admitted only two Syrian Christians into the U.S. in the first two months of 2016.
Syria
Genocide waged on religious minorities in Syria, Iraq
The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has unanimously passed HR 75, a resolution declaring that those who commit or support mass murder against religious minorities are guilty of “genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”
Assyrian Christians targeted for Christmas
A coordinated attack on three restaurants owned by Assyrian Christians in Syria killed 16 and injured dozens more during Christmas celebrations.
House Resolution to call extermination ‘Genocide’
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan resolution in September that called for the murder of Christians and other religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria to be officially classified as “genocide,” according to Barnabas Aid.
UK discriminates against Syrian Christian refugees
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the U.K. Prime Minister that his government’s policy on refugees discriminates against Christians trying to leave Syria.
Syrian Christians leaving the Country
A Syrian Catholic leader has issued an impassioned plea for young people to stay in Syria, according to the Catholic Herald.
Syria: IS gives Christians Ultimatum
Islamic State jihadists have given Christians living in Qaryatain, Syria, just 48 hours to decide whether they will convert to Islam, pay the jizya tax, or be forced to leave town.
Muslim Kidnappers Ransom Christians
Hundreds of kidnapped Arab Christians have been ransomed last year by Islamist terror groups trying to raise funds by spreading terror across the Middle East, according to The Christian Post.
Syria: IS Abducts Dozens of Christians
Islamic State jihadists have captured several Christian families after seizing Qaryatain, a town in the Syrian province of Homs.
U.K. Denies Refuge to Christians Fleeing Islamic State
With the rise of the Islamic State, we are seeing what may become a “genocide” of Christians in the Middle East, yet the U.K. has closed its doors to them, according to Barnabas Fund International Director Patrick Sookhdeo.
Mosul Cathedral to become ‘Mosque of the Mujahedeen’
The Islamic State has announced that the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral Church of St. Ephrem in Mosul will become known as the “Mosque of the Mujahedeen” in honor of the “holy warriors” of Islam who wage jihad in Allah’s name.
Syria: Monk Abducted from Monastery
A Syrian Catholic monk of the Mar Elian Monastery has been abducted by armed jihadists.
Syrian Christians killed, wounded in Aleppo
Armenians in Aleppo — the largest city in Syria — have been under siege since Holy Week from rocket attacks that have killed 30 and injured almost 60.
ISIS Demands $30 Million to Free Christian Hostages
Islamic State militants are demanding up to $30 million in ransom to release the hundreds of Christian hostages in Syria, according to an officer within the Assyrian leadership.
Syrian Christian sends Desperate Letter from Aleppo
A Christian doctor in Aleppo has recently updated Barnabas Fund about the desperate conditions in Syria after almost four years of continuous civil war.
Christian families are stranded in ISIS-controlled Raqqa
The Islamic State is forcing the remaining Christian families in Raqqa to pay the jizya or protection tax, according to Christian Today.
Islamic State Destroys Armenian Church
Jihadists from the Islamic State have destroyed a Syrian church that memorialized the Armenian Genocide in which more than a million Armenian and Assyrian Christians died at the hands of Turkish Muslims.
Syria: Maaloula’s Christian Sites Sacked By Rebels
An official report by the Directorate General of Antiquities has documented the destruction inflicted on Maaloula and its historical sites by Islamist rebel fighters after pro-Assad forces had regained the Syrian city, according to International Christian Concern.
Syrian Islamists Kill 80 Christians, Displace Thousands More
Eighty Christians were killed and thousands more displaced after Islamic militants attacked the strategic Syrian town of Kessab near the Turkish border on March 21, according to Barnabas Aid.
Christians Warned Not to Support Assad
Using the Twitter social networking site, Lebanon’s March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator warned Christians that backing President Bashar al-Assad would backfire on their own communities, according to NOW news.