Somali Christians keep faith alive by going underground

Somalia is one of several nations where persecution against Christians is severe, but believers have managed to keep the faith alive by forming small underground groups.

Open Doors has ranked Somalia as the second most difficult place to live in as a Christian in its World Watch List. The country has struggled with civil war and political unrest since the 1990s, and terror groups like al-Shabaab have gained control in much of the rural territories.

Yonas Dembele, International Law analyst for the World Watch Research Unit at Open Doors International, revealed that Somali Christians are in extreme danger from Islamic jihadists, and the mere suspicion of conversion to Christianity could warrant a quick public execution.

"Converts to Christianity in the country have been facing massive problems and their killing is very common. Unlike in North Korea, on their discovery they would not last a day in a trial or ever get the chance to be sentenced to a labor camp," Dembele told The Christian Post.

"Instead, the mere suspicion leads to a rushed public beheading. Christians cannot raise their children according to their faith and would face severe problems if they attempted to celebrate Christian holidays. In a nutshell, to survive in the country Christians must pretend not to be Christians," he continued.

Dembele said that there is little protection for Christians in the Islamic-majority nation. He explained that Somalia's draft Constitution has a provision for religious freedom, but it treats Islam as the state religion, and it strives to make its laws and policies comply with a restrictive form of Sharia or Islamic law.

He noted that in certain situations, the government would try to appease jihadists by imposing restrictions on Christians. In 2015, Sheikh Mohamed Kheyrow, director of Somalia's ministry of religion, warned against celebrating Christmas, saying that the holiday is only for Christians, and it has nothing to do with Islam.

He stated that the Christian faith is being kept alive by "brave converts" who managed to survive by going underground. He said that converts who were exposed had to flee the country.

According to Open Doors, those who gather in small underground groups have to constantly change the locations of their meetings to avoid being discovered by al-Shabaab militants or community leaders.

Dembele said that members of the international community such as the U.N., the African Union, and the administration of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, has attempted to bring the chaos in Somalia under control, but the suffering remains great.

He called on Christians to support the persecuted Somali believers by praying, to support charities like Open Doors USA, and to raise the issue of religious freedom with their government representatives.