Sudanese government to demolish 25 churches for 'trespassing'

At least 25 churches in Sudan are scheduled for demolition because the places of worship are said to be "trespassing into residential areas."

According to a report from Radio Tamazuj, the authorities have issued notices regarding the demolition of the churches in Sharq Al-Neel and Khartoum North localities.

Meilad Musa, a member of the Sudanese Christian Church, said that the government has refused to approve the requests of Christians to build places of worship.

"The decision has already been issued, the 25 churches are from different denominations in Sharq Al-Neel, so we are calling on the government to give us our rights as Christians," Musa told Radio Tamazuj.

He called on the government to recognize the rights of the Christians and pointed out that they buy their lands officially in order to build their churches.

Rev. Yahya Abdurrahman, a pastor of Evangelical Church in Sudan, described the move as a flagrant violation of religious freedom and accused the government of deliberately targeting churches.

"This move targets the churches in Khartoum, because they always acclaim that these churches have trespassed into public places, but it I think it a plan," Abdurrahman remarked.

Nasri Morgus, a member of the Sudanese Organisation for Defending Rights and Freedoms (SODRF), also denounced the government's decision and described the situation of Christians as "unfortunate."

Morgus noted that Christians have been requesting the government to allocate land to build churches for almost 20 years, but their appeal have not been met with any positive response.

He also expressed his dissatisfaction regarding what he believes to be discrimination against Christians. He pointed out that Christians were not allowed to read the Bible during a conference for forgiveness that was recently held in Khartoum, while the Muslims were invited to recite the Quran.

The Sudanese government announced in 2014 that it would no longer allow the construction of new churches. Shalil Abdullah, the Sudanese Minister for Guidance and Religious Endowments, explained at the time that the existing churches are sufficient because many Christians have fled when the country separated from South Sudan.

Sudan is currently ranked on the Open Doors World Watch List as the fifth out of 50 countries where Christians experience the worst persecution.