Persecution of Christians (Middle East)

Jim Shannon Excerpts

Tuesday 5th November 2013 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) on bringing this important matter to the Chamber and on allowing us all to have a chance to have a say in the debate. Christian persecution is an important issue. Although I always have my constituency in my heart, I believe that I must stand up for those who are persecuted throughout the world—in this case, Christians in the middle east. In the debate pack for this debate, it says that

“the global war on Christians remains the greatest story never told of the early 21st century.”

I, too, believe that to be the truth. Just as one did not have to be Jewish in the 1970s to care about dissident Jews in the Soviet Union, or to be black to be outraged by the apartheid regime in South Africa, one does not have to be a Christian today to see that the defence of persecuted Christians should be a towering priority.

I was pleased to meet Baroness Warsi and other Members last week and to read the interesting report prepared by the APPG on international religious freedom. Of great interest was the fact that 75% of the world’s population live in countries with high levels of Government restriction on freedom of belief, and that became evident during the so-called Arab spring. Some 100,000 Christians will be killed in a year—one every hour—and 2 million will be persecuted. Such statistics put the matter into perspective. With our current economic issues, it is clear that many people are concerned with their own difficulties. None the less, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of people who regularly contact my offices to ask me to do all I can to use my position to bring about an end to Christian persecution. The stories that are relayed to me are shocking in their intensity.

A century ago, about 20% of the population in north Africa and the middle east were Christian, according to Open Doors, but that figure has now dropped to just 4% of the population, which is due to persecution. The percentage drop does not indicate how many of those people were murdered or forcibly or even voluntarily displaced, but it does indicate that there may be no Christian presence left in the middle east in my son’s lifetime—or even in my own lifetime. To those who might question what role we have to play in that international story, I say that it is a very important one. It is my role and that of the House to support Christians who are persecuted and targeted merely because of their choice of worship. The hon. Member for Congleton has given evidence of other parts of the world where persecution is rife. As the debate is specifically on the middle east, I will keep my comments entirely on that region.

A quick glance online at Christian Persecution Info will reveal many headlines and stories. In Iran, we learn that 80 lashes were given for the taking of communion wine. It is unbelievable that such a small thing in reality—it is important to Christians because of the importance of holy communion—can bring about such persecution. We also learn that the violations of the rights of Christians, most notably converts from Islam to evangelical Protestant groups, continue unabated. A UN report in October said:

“Authorities continue to compel licensed Protestant churches to restrict Persian-speaking and Muslim-born Iranians from participating in services and raids and forced closures of house churches are ongoing. More than 300 Christians have been arrested since 2010 and dozens of church leaders and active community members have reportedly been convicted of national security crimes in connection with church activities, such as organizing prayer groups…and attending Christian seminars abroad.”

In Egypt, a man, woman and young children who were all Christian were killed at a drive-by shooting at a wedding. In Saudi Arabia, there has been a call for the destruction of all churches on the Arabian peninsula. According to Jihad Watch, a Kuwaiti parliamentarian presented a Bill that would ban the construction of any new non-Islamic religious buildings in the emirate. However, the call in Saudi Arabia went further than that. It insisted that all existing churches be demolished, as Islam is the only religion permitted on the peninsula. The ruling is based on the hadith of Mohammed, who said:

“There shall not be two religions on the peninsula of the Arabs.”

Again, that is a very insidious and very specific persecution of Christians.

The village of Maaloula, a symbol of Syrian Christian tradition where Aramaic is still spoken, is now a ghost town. The bodies of Christians lie along the roads of that small village north of Damascus after it was invaded by Islamist insurgents last month.

The list goes on and on. There will be no Christians left in the middle east if we continue at such a rate. That fear is based not on percentages, but on the fact that there are literally millions of people who live in fear every day.

I will conclude now, because I am conscious that other Members want to contribute to the debate. I plead with the Minister, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development to do all they can to help stop the persecution in the middle east and to ensure that support filters down to the downtrodden Christian families who suffer every day to enjoy the freedom that we take for granted in this place. I stand with my friend and colleague, the hon. Member for Congleton, and ask the Minister to take action today and use the influence of this House, democratically and politically, to stop ethnic cleansing from taking place in the middle east. We cannot allow it to go on simply because it is a difficult area with intense problems.