Launch of ACN’s ‘Religious Freedom in the World Report 2021 : 20 Apr, ONLINE

April 20, 2021 | 5:30 pm
online

Throughout the world, religious believers are persecuted because of their faith. According to the BBC, over a million Turkic Uighurs are detained in concentration camps, prisons and forced labour factories in China.  The Yazidis and Christians of Iraq are still recovering from genocide at the hands of Daesh (ISIS), where Yazidi women were sold into sex slavery in open marketplaces.

We invite you to the virtual launch of ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World report, which assesses the extent that the core human right of religious freedom is upheld in 196 countries, every country on earth.

More than two years in the making, the report is the only global study on religious freedom that is not produced by, or for, a government. We are pleased to have guest speakers from across the world joining us for this event.

The event will livestream on YouTube and will be available on this page, from 5.30pm on 20th April.

Guest speakers:

UK: Brendan O’Hara, SNP MP for Argyll and Bute
MP for Argyll and Bute since 2015, Brendan O’Hara is a long-time friend and supporter of ACN who visited Lebanon in 2019 and saw first-hand the suffering of Iraqi and Syrian Christians at the hands of Daesh (ISIS).

NIGERIA: Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, Nigeria
Bishop Doeme was ordained bishop of Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria in August 2009, with the diocese often at the heart of Boko Haram’s violent campaign, with one massacre in November 2020 killing 110.

IRAQ: Archbishop Nathanael Nizar Semaan of Hadiab, Erbil
Ordained as Archbishop of Hadiab-Erbil in August 2019, Archbishop Semaan has overseen the recovery of the Christians there who suffered a genocide at the hands of Daesh (ISIS).

UK: Alexander Stafford, Conservative MP for Rother Valley
Alexander Stafford was voted in as Conservative MP for Rother Valley in 2019, the first Conservative to be elected for the seat. He has a long-held interest in the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

UK: Afzal Khan, Labour MP for Gorton, Manchester
In 2005 Afzal Khan became the first Muslim Lord Mayor of Manchester and was appointed CBE in 2008 for his race relations work. Labour MP for Manchester Gorton since 2017, he is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government’s treatment of the Uighur Muslims.

The report will be available for download from the 20th April onwards.

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