World Watch Monitor, February 3, 2020
Three churches in Sudan’s southern Blue Nile state, rebuilt after arson attacks in December, were burned down again in January. On the evening of 28 December, the Sudan Internal Church, Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church in Bout town, near the border with South Sudan, were set alight.
The three churches were restored with local materials, only to be set on fire again by unidentified arsonists on 16 January.
The Minister of Religious Affairs said that the police are investigating. “If it is proven that it occurred as a result of a criminal offence, the perpetrators will be identified, pursued and brought to justice,” he said, reaffirming “Sudan’s full commitment to protecting religious freedoms and “houses of worship from any threats”.
Sudan’s Blue Nile and South Kordofan states are at the centre of an ongoing armed conflict between government forces and militants belonging to the Sudan People Liberation Movement. Years of fighting has sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes in the region where most of Sudan’s Christians live.