Christians continue to be persecuted even in the European refugee camps

The Group of European People's Party interreligious working group listened at its Strasbourg meeting information presented by the reverend Gottfried Martens, who has been actively engaged for several years in Berlin with the accommodation of Christian refugees from the Middle Eastern countries.

Christians are being systematically persecuted even in German refugee camps.  In addition, German officials are rather eager to send them back to Iraq on the pretext that, after all, they are not true Christians, claims the German Lutheran pastor Gottfried Martens, who is working in Berlin, taking care of Christian refugees.

According to him, a wide-spread attitude among German officials is that these people define themselves as Christians only to get legal residency in Germany. 

Even as officially Christian refugees from the Middle East are welcome to Germany, there is now a strong trend to send back as many people as possible.

Reverend Martens told the story of one Iraqi Christian, who was tortured in Iraq.  Despite his tragic background authorities are prepared to send him back because they are not convinced that his story is true.

The irony is that those who beat and threatened Christians in Iraq are often accepted in Germany, while those, who faced death and destruction at their homes, will be sent back for even more persecution.

In reverend Martens’ words, officials who interrogate them do not know themselves much about Christianity. Interpreters in these interrogations are mostly Muslims, who have not much sympathy for Christians and are not automatically interested to truthfully forward their information.

If somebody is a convert to Christianity, he or she must be officially protected by the state.  However, the pressure is growing to get rid of as many refugees as possible, therefore the excuse is used that the applicants for asylum are in reality not genuine Christians.

Martens told about a person whom he has personally taught for 2 years and baptized.  After 5-6 questions in the immigration office, it was concluded that he is pretending to be a Christian in order to get the legal residency.

In the camps, every morning at 5 o’clock Muslims are being called for prayer by loudspeakers. Everyone attends, including the guardians. Christians who do not attend, are sent to clean toilets.

Those who have attacked Christians in Iraq are treated in Germany more fairly than those who continue to suffer under Muslims even in Europe.

In Germany, the big churches have had difficulties to treat refugees who would like to convert to Christianity.  They are often hesitant how to manage these applications, even how to baptize them.  That is why majority of converts have joined free churches.

Only now, the old churches are waking up to the reality - that there is a big movement of people interested in becoming Christians.

However, as the old churches have not so much experience as we do, says reverend Martens, they are handicapped to act efficiently and with determination.

If it becomes the practice that the state will judge who is Christian and who is not, it will have disastrous consequences.  

According to Martens, these Christian refugees are a blessing to Europe, which has lost its faith.  They can encourage us to keep our identity.

MEP Jan Olbrycht asked: can our churches say that these are our refugees?

The EPP Group MEPs decided to share this shocking information with their colleagues, to inform their respective national churches, to have a meeting with the new President of the European Parliament and to send a letter to the German Chancellor Merkel to guarantee that Christian refugees will be treated fairly and equally with full respect of their religion.

MEP Tunne Kelam from Estonia admitted how little the members of the European Parliament know about what is happening in the European refugee camps. Reverend Martins’ account must be a wake-up call for everybody.  It is outrageous that Christians continue to be persecuted even after having made the ordeal of a long and dangerous escape. Tunne Kelam thinks that an ignorant and indifferent attitude by European officials is not exceptional and has to be seen as the consequence of having lost their Christian European identity.  For many people in today’s Europe, Christians are not perceived as brothers and sisters in faith and common cultural heritage, but as far-away minorities who are not emotionally and historically connected to Europe, despite coming from the cradle of Christianity.  MEPs who genuinely stand up for equality and rights for all people, cannot tolerate a new division into first and second class refugees which is taking place in many places of Europe.