IS terrorizes Christian refugees in Libya

According to the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), Christian refugees in Libya are increasingly threatened by the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS). The human rights organization expressed its deep concern for 86 Christian Eritreans who were abducted two weeks ago. There has so far been no sign of life from them. "The refugees are in acute danger. This year, IS has already killed dozens of kidnapped Christians in cold blood," said the STP's Africa expert, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Wednesday. "They are politically persecuted. As there is no religious freedom or freedom of expression in their home country Eritrea, they are especially vulnerable." The STP appealed to the High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, to intensify the efforts to clarify the fate of the missing refugees.

In the morning of June 3, 2015, the 74 men and twelve women and children from Eritrea were kidnapped by alleged IS-supporters to the south of the city of Tripoli. Their truck was ambushed by militiamen. Three Eritreans who were able to escape had reported that the refugees were divided into groups, based on their religious belief. Anyone who claimed to be a Muslim had to answer questions about the Koran. Six Muslims passed the test and were set free. The rest of them are still missing, without a trace.

IS-fighters are tracking down Christians in Liyba in order to take revenge for the Egyptian air raids on suspected IS-positions. Eritreans and Ethiopians are especially in danger because most of them are Christians and because they can be distinguished from the Arab majority fairly easily. Most of the Christian Copts who worked in Libya have left the country following the recent wave of violence against Christians.

In February 2015, a group of 21 Egyptian Copts who had been kidnapped in December 2014 were executed on a beach. The Muslim extremists had filmed the execution and had distributed the video throughout the world. In April 2015, a group of 30 Ethiopian Christians were beheaded by the IS-fighters, and this act of violence was filmed and distributed in a propaganda video too. The 16-year-old Eritrean Nael Goitom reported, also in April 2015, that his captors had forced him to watch the videos of both executions. Nael was kidnapped on March 3, 2015 – together with 61 men from Eritrea, ten women from Eritrea and eight Ethiopians – but was able to escape. 

Header Photo: Andrea Moroni /Flickr