Sudan Turning into Police State for Christians

ICC Note:
For Christians living in Sudan, travel restrictions are only the most recent form of persecution that is making it difficult for them to exist. According to Sudanese bishops meeting in South Sudan, many of their fellow bishops from Sudan were denied the right to travel to the meeting and have had their passports taken by government officials. Discrimination, social hostility and harassment are becoming more and more common for Christians in Sudan. Many fear that the Islamic government will soon take even more dramatic action against the Christian faith.
1/24/2014 Sudan (Washington Post) – For Christians living in predominantly Muslim Sudan, travel restrictions are making life more difficult each day, a Roman Catholic cardinal said.
Sudanese Cardinal Gabriel Zubeir Wako highlighted the challenges at a Catholic Bishops Conference in Juba, the Republic of South Sudan’s capital. His auxiliary bishop could not attend the Jan. 21-30 meeting because his passport was seized by security agents, along with those of eight priests.
“Christians in the two countries are facing difficulties,” Wako told the gathering. “We (bishops) must focus on serious matters and come up with strong messages.”
Catholics and other Christians survived serious persecution during the Sudanese civil war (1983-2005), between the Khartoum-based Islamic government and rebels in the mainly Christian south.
In 2011, the country split in two, with the south becoming the Republic of South Sudan. Since then the Christian minority in the north has faced growing violence, harassment and discrimination, including reports of priests being interrogated and having their visas denied.
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