Christian migrants suffer persecution from other migrants in Germany, alarming report says

Suzette Gutierrez Cachila Thursday, May 12, 2016

Christian migrants in Germany who left the Middle East to escape persecution are facing danger from Muslim migrants, a recent report found.

Migrants line-up at a registration point after crossing the Macedonian-Greek border near Gevgelija, Macedonia, September 7, 2015. | Reuters/Stoyan Nenov

Open Doors, a faith-based organization, together with five other NGOs, conducted a survey between February and April among 231 Christian migrants who came mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The survey results showed that an astonishing 88 percent of these Christian migrants have experienced persecution and attacks from other migrants because of their faith.

Aside from this, almost 50 percent of them said they have experienced discrimination and harassment from Muslim German guards.

These instances are causing an atmosphere of "fear and panic," according to Open Doors' member Markus Rode, The Washington Post reported.

Other survey respondents said they had been insulted (42 percent), threatened with death (32 percent) and sustained an injury from a physical attack (37 percent). The victims were reportedly afraid to run to the police, which could be the reason why the magnitude of attacks against Christian refugees had not been made known earlier.

The report, which contained more than 200 stories of targeted attacks, focused on the scenario in Germany. However, experts say up to 40,000 Christian migrants overall could be suffering the same fate.

"This is only the tip of the iceberg," Rode said.

Open Doors recommends that non-Muslim refugees be kept separate from Muslim refugees in order to avoid further targeted attacks against Christians. The organization advised that non-Muslim Christians should not be made to stay in the same house where the residents are mostly Muslims.

The organization also recommended that personnel in refugee centers be given trainings so they can become aware about conflict between religions and be equipped to protect religious minorities in the camps. Aside from this, Open Doors also suggests that Christian counselors, to whom victims could confide, be made available to Christian refugees.