Christian Converts in Hamburg Threatened

Case information
Incident date
Country
Germany
Categories
  • Social Hostility / Intolerance
Attack Against
  • Faith
Perpetrator / Motive Indicators
  • Islamist
  • Private
Hate Crime & Violent Incidents
  • Insult or Incitement
Religious Freedom / Discrimination
  • Exclusion (of individuals or ideas)
  • Freedom of Religion

Security guards at refugee camps in Hamburg have reportedly told the Christian residents to keep their faith a secret, claiming they cannot protect them if their secret is revealed.

According to Zeit, one young Iranian woman said a Syrian man questions her every day about why she does not wear a headscarf and cover herself up.

She and two dozen refugees set up a secret church at the camp but none of them wear a cross or reads the Bible in front of the Muslim refugees. She described the fear of being discovered reading the Bible or preparing to convert to Christianity. "If that comes out, I'm fair game. Everyone then has the right to destroy me. Some Muslims even think it is their duty."

Sources