US leaders denounce Christian persecution in Algeria
International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that Congressman Doug Lamborn has delivered a letter to the Algerian government, calling attention to the increasing persecution of Christians in Algeria. Much of Algeria’s Christian population, represented by the Eglise Protestante d’Algérie (EPA), worshipped in relative peace for many decades.
However, in recent years, they have been systematically targeted by the Algerian government through a series of church closures and increasing intimidation tactics against the Christian community. The Algerian government closed 18 EPA-affiliated churches between November 2017 and the end of 2019.
A similar letter was sent by Representative Doug Lamborn at the end of 2019 to the Algerian government regarding the growing persecution of Christians. Nine other representatives signed this letter.
The letter comes in the wake of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) adding Algeria to its 2020 annual report on the world’s worst religious freedom violators. “The [Algerian] government,” USCIRF reports, “systematically cracked down on the Evangelical Protestant community.” This represented the first time in history that Algeria had been added to the Watchlist.
ICC celebrates the leadership of Representative Doug Lamborn and his fellow co-signers in this effort as it will certainly deliver a much needed additional point of pressure to the Algerian leadership. Algeria needs to know that the world is watching, and the government of Algeria should take note of what its allies are saying in order to develop stronger relationships with the global community.
Source: persecution.org
Image: whitehouse.gov
