Iranian Christians Kicked Out of Refugee Home After Being Attacked
Six Iranian Christian refugees were told by a security employee of the Tempelhof accommodation that they had an hour to leave because they were trouble-makers. Just days earlier, these six men had been threatened with beatings by 70 radical Muslim refugees for reading the Bible.
Six Iranian Christian refugees were surrounded by seventy radical Muslims in the Tempelhof accommodation after being found reading the Bible. The men were insulted, threatened with beatings, and feared being killed by the mob. Twenty police officers arrived with dogs, and according to one of the victims, it was only when the dogs were let off their leashes that the attackers left them alone. The police left 15 minutes after they arrived, and their report indicated that the incident had been a dispute during food distribution. Pastor Gottfried Martens, who has been assisting Christian refugees in the Berlin area, said he was not surprised that the police report was inaccurate since the police get their information either from the attackers themselves, or from security guards who tend to come from Islamic cultures as well. The refugee home operator admitted that there was harassment against Christians in the accommodation, but said they do all they can to protect people. After the attack, the men left the hangar where they had been staying and moved to a different area within the camp in the former Tempelhof Airport. They stayed one more night there, and then went to Pastor Gottfried Martens for help. Pastor Martens wrote a letter on their behalf to LaGeSo (Berlin's office for health and social affairs) explaining the situation, but according to the Christians, they had to wait in line to speak to the authorities. When they finally got to the front of the line, they were sent back out into the cold. That evening, they were brought to a shelter for unregistered refugees. The following day, they waited again for an interview, but left empty-handed again. According to Pastor Martens, these six Christians are officially homeless and have been staying with members of his congregation. Source: BZ-Berlin