Sudan: Christian refugee children must recite Islamic prayers before receiving food
Source: Sudan: Christian refugee children must recite Islamic prayers before receiving food | ICN
Christian children in Sudan’s refugee camps are not receiving food unless they say Islamic prayers, according to reports received by sources close to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. A contact, who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons, described how Christian refugees from South Sudan are “in a terrible situation” in refugee camps in Sudan.
Speaking of the plight of child refugees in Sudan, the ACN source said: “We have heard stories where children are conditioned to say Islamic prayers before [being] given food. This is not right. These children are Christian. They should be respected for that.”
The source, who estimates that 700,000 South Sudanese Christians are refugees in Sudan, added: “The majority are left in camps, some in a very terrible situation. They are confined in those places. They are not allowed to go further north to the cities.”
The source’s comments come amid reports of increasing persecution against Christians in Sudan with the regime reportedly intensifying its Islamising agenda.
In May 2017 a source who also requested anonymity for security reasons, told ACN: “Churches [in Sudan] are destroyed but it’s claimed to be just town planning. The Church is not allowed to buy property.”
At about the same time, a Sudan Church source told ACN: “Churches are being torn down each month – you never hear that about mosques.”
Reports also note that Church leaders are increasingly concerned about Sudan’s intolerance aimed at Christian women.
In June 2015, 12 Christian women were arrested as they left a church for wearing trousers or skirts which were seen as “indecent or immoral dress.”
Recall, a few years ago South Sudan split from Sudan due to Islamic intolerance.
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