Sudan Takes Over Church Properties
An Islamist judge in Omdurman upheld the eviction of two pastors from their church-owned homes, ruling that Hisham Hamad Al-Neel, a Muslim businessman behind most cases filed to obtain church property, should take over the houses. 60 other Christians have been summoned over their refusal to relinquish property.
The two pastors and their families remain homeless since police raided their houses on Aug. 15 and evicted them. Pastor Abdalla has two children, ages 8 and 10, and Pastor Nalu has a 1-year-old boy.
Harassment, arrests and persecution of Christians have intensified since South Sudan seceded in July 2011.
The government announced in 2013 that no new licenses would be granted for building new churches in Sudan.
Sudan since 2012 has bulldozed church buildings on the pretext that they belonged to South Sudanese.