And life for Christian refugees among Muslim migrants is “still unbearable.”

“For instance, a recently arrived refugee was confronted with these words written on the wall in his refugee shelter: ‘The time has come to cut off the heads of all non-believers!'”

No one should be surprised if Muslims act according to Qur’anic imperatives: “When you meet the unbelievers, strike the necks” (Qur’an 47:4). But apparently no one in Germany was or is prepared for that.

“Life for some Christians in German refugee shelters ‘still unbearable,’” World Watch Monitor, October 17, 2016:

A group of German NGOs, led by Open Doors Germany, is calling on Angela Merkel’s federal government, and on State governments, to end the “integration experiment” of mixing Christian and Muslim refugees in refugee centres, saying the situation for Christian and other religious minorities there is “still unbearable”.

“We have underestimated the role of religion,” said Germany’s Home Secretary, Thomas de Maizière, at the ‘Future Conference on Integration and Migration’ in September, looking back at recent events in his country. Contrary to widespread belief in Germany, he said, the importance of religion and faith has not decreased globally.

In September 2015, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that any Syrian who could reach Germany could claim asylum there, partly basing her offer on the Biblical principles of welcoming the stranger and those in need. This offer undermined the 1990 Dublin Convention, which said that refugees must claim asylum in the first EU country they reach. This, Merkel argued, was placing a heavy burden on countries like Malta, Italy and Greece. So she also soon urged other EU members to join a quota system, whereby they would be required to re-settle their fair share of asylum seekers too.

Merkel’s gesture of humanity has resulted in an influx into Germany of perhaps a million people since her comment. In March 2016, the head of Germany’s migration office admitted that up to 400,000 had not applied for asylum. Hundreds of thousands have been living in temporary shelters. And the problems of freedom of religion or belief in countries like Iran or Afghanistan or Pakistan appear to have been transplanted to these crowded shelters.

‘I never expected such a thing to happen in Germany’

Many of the people reaching Europe are refugees or asylum seekers: some have fled to Germany from Islamic countries because of the persecution and discrimination they faced at home. Now those from minority faiths, such as Christians or Yezidis, can often experience the same kind of pressure at these refugee shelters in Germany.

For instance, a recently arrived refugee was confronted with these words written on the wall in his refugee shelter: “The time has come to cut off the heads of all non-believers!”

He described his horror: “I was shocked! In Iran this may happen, but I never expected such a thing to happen in Germany. This has shattered my trust.”

The group of charities – Open Doors Germany, Action on Behalf of Christians and the Needy, the Central Council of Oriental Christians in Germany and the European Mission Society – has published a report, ‘Lack of protection for religious minorities in Germany’, which summarises the findings of a survey carried out amongst asylum-seekers, seeking to give the evidence behind refugees’ accounts of intimidation.

I was shocked! In Iran this may happen, but I never expected such a thing to happen in Germany. This has shattered my trust….