[miltonim]

Christians Begin Exodus From Iraq
June 2004
Excerpt: "We have been flooded with parishioners desperate to leave the country, and as they cannot get an exit permit without a baptismal certificate from the church we have been swamped with requests. ... In recent days nearly 400 families as far as we can tell have filled out baptismal forms to leave the country. Our community is being decimated."... "We want to stay. This is our homeland," the priest said. "But if we do not have a place where we can go, if we will be persecuted daily by Muslims again we cannot stay. We are appealing to the world to help us -- to guarantee us an area where we can be protected, where we can live in peace and where we can worship in freedom."

[miltonim]

Christians flee Muslim mobs
Nigeria
May 2004

Excerpt: Kano - Thousands of Christians have fled the suburbs of the northern Nigerian city of Kano to seek police protection after coming under attack from Muslim mobs, a reporter saw on Wednesday. At least 5 000 refugees, mainly from the Sharada industrial district of the city, had gathered or been brought under escort to Kano State's main police headquarters, many with nothing but the clothes on their backs. "Many people have been killed in Sharada, but we have not been able to bring out their bodies, because we had to look to our own lives" said 37-year-old foundry worker Joshua Adamu.