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Islamic terror group confiscates Christians’ properties in Syria, watchdog reports

A Syrian Islamic rebel group has been confiscating Christian-owned properties in Idlib, according to a new report released by a Syrian human rights watchdog.

 

“Christians in Idlib province face the injustice of jihadist organisations and violations by Islamic factions, in terms of applying ‘Islamic Sharia law’ to members of different religious communities,” states the report released by the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on the 25th of April. 

The group warns that Islamic factions in the war-torn province in northwestern Syria are “clamping down” on Christians and imposing “Jizya,” a hefty tax imposed on non-Muslims. 

SOHR warns that the imposition of Jizya, which was imposed by the Islamic State during its reign of terror in Iraq and Syria, is an attempt by Islamic groups to force Christians “to leave their homes to regime-controlled areas.”

Civilians within the Christian community in Idlib who have fled from their homes are barred from appointing someone “to change a ruling made by the Sharia courts regarding their property,” according to the watchdog. 

Last week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom released its annual report. The commission called on the U.S. State Department to label Syria as a “country of particular concern,” the agency’s worst designation when it comes to the issue of religious freedom. 

Syria is ranked eleventh in the Open Doors USA 2020 World Watch List of countries where Christians are most persecuted. 

Source and image: christianpost.com

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