Displaying items by tag: Asia

A 34-year-old Christian, Ijaz, who had fled Pakistan for fear of persecution, received news on 26 May that his application for refugee status had been refused. The next day he died at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Bangkok. Some months earlier he complained of chest pains and was hospitalised, but doctors could not diagnose his problem. At the IDC, he was put in the punishment room because he could not pay his hospital bill. Eventually his local church in Bangkok paid the bill, with help from Barnabas Fund. The IDC doctor refused to allow his pastor to bring him medicine. Around 4,000 Pakistani Christians have fled persecution and made their way to Thailand, only to find that they are treated as criminals there. Immigration police carry out arbitrary mass arrests, even raiding worship services, searching for people without valid visas. Detainees are held in such harsh and horrifically overcrowded conditions that some have chosen to go back to Pakistan and face persecution. One source said that this desperate decision is often made because they are not receiving treatment for life-threatening medical conditions. ‘It is a 21st century concentration camp, without the gas chambers’, he said.

Between 9 and 16 June, as part of a Ramadan prayer focus, approximately one million people prayed for the Domari people. There is great expectation that God will do amazing things in this season! In recent years workers have seen some breakthrough, with individuals coming to faith. But whole tribes need to be transformed to worship Jesus Christ. They are originally from Northern India, as are the Roma in Eastern Europe. Domari moved to Asia between 700 and 1000 years ago; but wherever in the world they settle, they are known for the same type of things. The enemy has corrupted all that God has created them to be, but we know that they can be so much more. Instead of sorcery, may they be called to prophecy and receiving revelation from God: instead of immorality and prostitution, may they experience deep intimacy with God. See also

A missionary reports that the Afghan government is demanding that NGOs write more and more reports. For Bible translators, this means more bureaucracy and finding new ways through changes and confusion. They ask us to pray for wisdom for them as they deal with this situation that could drastically affect their ministry. Also, a project for school-children in a major area is undergoing massive changes. Pray for the right strategy and plans for the coming year and for new donors for all their projects, especially in the west of the country. Please pray for a Finnish lady, who is being held captive, to be released unharmed soon. It seems the country is being torn from all sides, and there are increasingly more incidents where the government’s fragile unity is showing cracks. For the recent PA article about a warlord joining the government, see

A ransom paid by Qatar to Iranian Al Qaeda-linked terrorists to secure the release of members of Qatar’s royal family being held hostage is believed to have prompted Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt to sever ties with the tiny but resource-rich emirate, accusing Doha of ‘funding terrorists’. Qatar is home to 10,000 American troops and a major US military base. On 8 June the US and Qatari navies began manoeuvres, just hours after the USA agreed a major warplane sale to the Gulf kingdom, underscoring a military alliance despite Donald Trump's assertion that Doha supports ‘extremism’. It is not clear when the joint naval exercise was arranged. Washington is sending conflicting signals about its position on the diplomatic crisis. Trump expressed support for the Saudi-led allegations against Qatar, but Pentagon and State Department officials have scrambled to reassure the emirate of support and continued sales of F-15 fighters. Meanwhile Turkey has deployed soldiers and military hardware to Qatar, and will train Qatari police. See

Qatar has vowed it will not surrender its foreign policy in an escalating row with other Arab states over its alleged connections to extremism, which it denies. Its foreign minister has said he favours diplomacy to resolve the crisis, and that there is no military solution. Meanwhile, Qatar's Al Jazeera network said it was suffering a cyber-attack; it has been in the crosshairs in the current dispute, and other Gulf countries blocked it in May. There were also reports of hacking attempts on Qatar’s state-run TV station. Saudi Arabia and other states cut travel and diplomatic links with the country on 5 June. The emir of Kuwait is trying to mediate the row, carrying out shuttle diplomacy between Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Unicef reports that cholera cases in Yemen could quadruple in the next month to 300,000. A runaway epidemic is killing someone nearly every hour and threatening the lives of thousands, says Oxfam. There is an urgent call going out for massive aid efforts and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers to tackle the outbreak. The World Health Organisation said that between 27 April and 3 June, 676 people died and over 86,000 were suspected of having the disease. Yemen’s neglected medical reporting system and the widespread nature of the epidemic mean that these figures are likely to be under-reporting the full scale of the crisis. The crisis follows two years of war which have decimated water and sanitation systems, restricted imports, and left millions one step away from famine.

On 3 June, while liberating western Mosul, Iraqi troops discovered a huge underground prison with dozens of detainees from Anbar province. The detainees were treated medically and then transferred to another place to check their identities. The UN estimates the number of civilians stranded at the battlefield in the old city at 200,000. They will be suffering severe shortages in food and medicine.

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked the Iranian parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum in Tehran on 7 June, killing at least 13 people. IS claimed responsibility, and threatened more attacks against Iran’s majority Shi'ite population. Iran's Revolutionary Guards blame their regional rival Saudi Arabia. Sunni Saudi Arabia denied any involvement in the attacks, but the assault further fuels tensions between Riyadh and Tehran as they vie for control of the Gulf and influence in the wider Islamic world. The attack happened one week after the meeting between Donald Trump and the Saudi leaders (who support terrorists). Trump said that he prayed for the attack victims but added, ‘States that sponsor terrorism risk falling victim to the evil they promote.’

The worst monsoon since 2003 hit Sri Lanka after two months of drought. 194 people died, and the toll is expected to rise. 99 people are missing, and 112 injured. Over half a million people are affected. Red Cross, police, foreign aid workers, and military are giving first aid, organising search and rescue missions, and distributing food and water. Homes are uninhabitable. Barnabas Fund reported that 200 churches and 5,000 Christian families are affected. However, Christians have not sought shelter in relief camps, fearing persecution, especially those in Buddhist temples. On 30 May Cyclone Mora’s winds of 85 mph lashed Bangladesh forcing the evacuation of 2.5 million people, killing at least six, destroying 20,000 houses and felling hundreds of trees. Meanwhile President Trump is expected to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, according to two senior US officials familiar with his plans - a major reversal of the previous administration's efforts on climate change. See:

Ninety died and 400 were injured when a truck bomb shook Kabul's diplomatic quarter, in one of the worst terror incidents to hit Kabul. People struggled to deal with the number of casualties. The damage was enormous. The majority of the dead were civilian men, women and children. In recent years jihadist groups have called for attacks on civilians during Ramadan, which began on 27 May. The explosion raises questions about security procedures. However, on 1 June the president told the BBC Today programme that thirty attacks are foiled for every one that gets through. Three years after David Cameron declared ‘mission accomplished’ and Barack Obama said the American war in Afghanistan was over, this carnage demonstrates the opposite. The West does not want another escalating war, while generals on the ground call for more troops. In 1989 foreign powers turned their backs on Afghanistan, which enabled the Taliban to burgeon. Now, the country cannot be allowed to disintegrate again in the face of IS, with the internet accelerating the dissemination of both ideology and violence. See