Christian emigration

Last updated
Christian Greek and Armenian refugee children in Athens in 1923, following their expulsion from Turkey. Greek and Armenian refugee children near Athens, 1923.jpg
Christian Greek and Armenian refugee children in Athens in 1923, following their expulsion from Turkey.

The phenomenon of large-scale migration of Christians is the main reason why Christians' share of the population has been declining in many countries. Many Muslim countries have witnessed disproportionately high emigration rates among their Christian minorities for several generations. [1] [2] [3] Today, most Middle Eastern people in the United States are Christians, [4] and the majority of Arabs living outside the Arab World are Arab Christians.

Contents

Push factors motivating Christians to emigrate include religious discrimination, persecution, and cleansing. Pull factors include prospects of upward mobility as well as joining relatives abroad.

Christian emigration from the Middle East

Antiochian Orthodox church in Canada; Christian communities make up a significant proportion of the Middle Eastern diaspora. St Elias Antiochian Orthodox church Ottawa.jpg
Antiochian Orthodox church in Canada; Christian communities make up a significant proportion of the Middle Eastern diaspora.

Millions of people descend from Arab Christians and live in the Arab diaspora, outside the Middle East, they mainly reside in the Americas, but there are many people of Arab Christian descent in Europe, Africa and Oceania. The majority of Arabs living outside the Arab World are Arab Christians. Christians have emigrated from the Middle East, a phenomenon that has been attributed to various causes included economic factors, political and military conflict, and feelings of insecurity or isolation among minority Christian populations. [5] [6] [7] The higher rate of emigration among Christians, compared to other religious groups, has also been attributed to their having stronger support networks available abroad, in the form of existing emigrant communities.

Christians had a significant impact contributing the culture of the Arab world, Turkey, and Iran. [8] [9] Today Christians still play important roles in the Arab world, and Christians are relatively wealthy, well educated, and politically moderate. [10]

Historical events that caused large Christian emigration from the Middle East include: 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus, Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, Assyrian genocide, 1915–1918 Great Famine of Mount Lebanon, 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey, 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight, 1956–57 exodus and expulsions from Egypt, Lebanese civil war, and the Iraq war. [11] [12] [13]

Egypt

St Mary and St Merkorious Coptic Orthodox Church in Rhodes, Sydney. (1)Coptic Church Rhodes 033.jpg
St Mary and St Merkorious Coptic Orthodox Church in Rhodes, Sydney.

As with most diaspora Arabs, a substantial proportion of the Egyptian diaspora consists of Christians. The Copts have been emigrating from Egypt both to improve their economic situation and to escape systematic harassment and persecution in their homeland. [14] [15]

The Coptic diaspora began primarily in the 1950s as result of discrimination, persecution of Copts and low income in Egypt. [16] [15] [17] [14] After Gamal Abdel Nasser rose to power, economic and social conditions deteriorated and many wealthier Egyptians, especially Copts, emigrated to United States, Canada and Australia. [14] [15] 1956–1957 exodus and expulsions from Egypt was the exodus and expulsion of Egypt's Mutamassirun, which included the British and French colonial powers as well as Christian Greeks, Italians, Syro-Lebanese, Armenians. [18] Emigration increased following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and the emigration of poorer and less-educated Copts increased after 1972, when the World Council of Churches and other religious groups began assisting Coptic immigration. [14] Emigration of Egyptian Copts increased under Anwar al-Sadat (with many taking advantage of Sadat's "open door" policy to leave the country) and under Hosni Mubarak. [15] Many Copts are university graduates in the professions, such as medicine and engineering. [15] The new post-2011 migrants to the United States included both educated middle-class Copts and poorer, more rural Copt. [19]

The number of Copts outside Egypt has sharply increased since the 1960s. The largest Coptic diaspora populations are in the United States, in Canada and in Australia, but Copts have a presence in many other countries.

Iran

Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale: home to large number of Armenian immigrants from Iran. Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale , California (2001) full.JPG
Saint Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Church in Glendale: home to large number of Armenian immigrants from Iran.

Christians and other religious minorities make up a disproportionately high share of the Iranian diaspora. Many Christians have left Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. [20] [21]

The Assyrians residing in California and Russia tend to be from Iran. [22] The Iranian revolution of 1979 greatly contributed to the influx of Middle Eastern Armenians to the US. [23] The Armenian community in Iran was well established and integrated, but not assimilated, into local populations. Many lived in luxury in their former country, and more easily handled multilingualism, while retaining aspects of traditional Armenian culture. [24]

The city of Glendale in the Los Angeles metropolitan area is widely thought to be the center of Armenian American life (although many Armenians live in the aptly named "Little Armenia" neighborhood of Los Angeles), there are also a great number of Armenian immigrants from Iran in Glendale who, due to the religious restrictions and lifestyle limitations of the Islamic government, immigrated to the US, many to Glendale since it was where their relatives resided. [25]

Iraq

Sacred Heart Chaldean Church in Chaldean Town, Detroit: the city is home to a large Iraqi Chaldean Catholic community. Chaldeanchurch.jpg
Sacred Heart Chaldean Church in Chaldean Town, Detroit: the city is home to a large Iraqi Chaldean Catholic community.

Following the Iraq War, the Christian population of Iraq has collapsed. Of the nearly 1 million Assyro-Chaldean Christians, [28] [29] most have emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia and within some of the countries in Europe, and most of the rest concentrated within the northern Kurdish enclave of Iraqi Kurdistan. [30] With continuing insurgency, Iraqi Christians are under constant threat of radical Islamic violence.

Since the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the resulting breakdown of law and order in that country, many Syriac speaking Assyrians and other Christians have fled the country, taking refuge in Syria, Jordan and further afield. [31] [32] Their percentage of the population has declined from 12% in 1948 (4.8 million population), to 7% in 1987 (20 million) and 6% in 2003 (27 million). Despite Assyrians making up only 3% of Iraq's population, in October 2005, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported of the 700,000 Iraqis who took refuge in Syria between October 2003 and March 2005, 36% were "Iraqi Christians." [ citation needed ]

Lebanon

Maronite church in Mexico city: the city is home to a large Lebanese Christian community. Templo Ntra Sra de Balvanera fachada.jpg
Maronite church in Mexico city: the city is home to a large Lebanese Christian community.

Lebanon has experienced a large migration of Lebanese Christians for many generations. Currently, the number of Lebanese people who live outside Lebanon (8.6 [34] -14 [35] million), is higher than the number of Lebanese people who live within Lebanon (4.3 million). Most of the members of the diaspora population are Lebanese Christians, but some of them are Muslims, Druze and Jews. They trace their origins to several waves of Christian emigration, starting with the exodus that followed the 1860 Lebanon conflict in Ottoman Syria. [36]

Under the current Lebanese nationality law, diaspora Lebanese do not have an automatic right of return to Lebanon. Due to varying degrees of assimilation and a high number of interethnic marriages, most diaspora Lebanese have not taught their children to speak the Arabic language, but they still retain their Lebanese ethnic identity.

The Lebanese Civil War has further fed the higher Christian emigration rate. Higher Muslim birthrates, the presence of Palestinians in Lebanon and the presence of Syrian migrant workers have all contributed to the reduction of the Christian proportion of the Lebanese population. Lebanese Christians are still culturally and politically prominent, forming 35-40% of the population. Since the end of the Lebanese Civil War, Muslim emigrants have outnumbered Christians, but the latter remain somewhat over-represented compared to their proportion of the population. [37]

Palestine

Antiochian Orthodox church in Santiago: Chile houses the largest Palestinian Christian community in the world outside of the Levant. Iglesia ortodoxa de la Stma Virgen Maria 20171120 fRF02.jpg
Antiochian Orthodox church in Santiago: Chile houses the largest Palestinian Christian community in the world outside of the Levant.

The immigration of Palestinian Christians started in the 19th century as a result of the Ottoman discrimination against Christians. [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] 1948 and 1967 occupations and wars made many Christians flee or lose their homes. [43] There has been considerable emigration of Palestinians and Palestinian Christians are disproportionately represented within the Palestinian diaspora. [44] Most Gazan Christians have fled the Gaza Strip following the Hamas takeover in 2007, largely relocating to the West Bank.

There are also many Palestinian Christians who are descendants of Palestinian refugees from the post-1948 era who fled to Christian-majority countries and formed large diaspora Christian communities. [41] [42] Worldwide, there are around one to four million Palestinian Christians in these territories as well as in the Palestinian diaspora, comprising around 6–30% of the world's total Palestinian population.. [45] Palestinian Christians live primarily in Arab states surrounding historic Palestine and in the diaspora, particularly in Europe and the Americas.

Today, Chile houses the largest Palestinian Christian community in the world outside of the Levant. Over 450,000 Palestinian Christians reside in Chile, most of whom came from Beit Jala, Bethlehem, and Beit Sahur. [46] Also, El Salvador, Honduras, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, and other Latin American countries have significant Palestinian Christian communities, some of whom immigrated almost a century ago during the time of Ottoman Palestine. [47]

Syria

Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Sao Paulo: the city is home to a large Syrian-Lebanese Christian community. Catedral de Nossa Senhora do Paraiso, Sao Paulo .jpg
Melkite Greek Catholic Church in São Paulo: the city is home to a large Syrian-Lebanese Christian community.

There are almost as many Syrian people living outside of Syria (15 [49] million), as within (18 million). Most of the diaspora population is Syrian Christians.[ citation needed ] They trace their origin to several waves of Christian emigration, starting with the exodus during Ottoman Syria. Syrian Christians tend to be relatively wealthy and highly educated. [50]

Under the current nationality law, diaspora Syrians do not have an automatic right of return to Syria.[ citation needed ] Varying degrees of assimilation and the high degree of interethnic marriages caused most diaspora Syrians have not passed on Arabic to their children, but they still maintain a Syrian ethnic identity.

The eruption of the Syrian Civil War in 2011 caused Christians to be targeted by militant Islamists and so they have become a major component of Syrian refugees.

In FY 2016, when the US dramatically increased the number of refugees admitted from Syria, the US let in 12,587 refugees from Syria, with 99% being Muslims (few Shia Muslims were admitted). Less than 1% were Christian, according to the Pew Research Center analysis of the State Department Refugee Processing Center data. [51]

The religious affiliation of Syria's 17.2 million people in 2016 was approximately 74% Sunni Islam, 13% Alawi, Ismaili and Shia Islam, 10% Christian and 3% Druze. [52] The population has declined by more than 6 million because of the civil war.

Turkey

Originally, most emigrants from what is now Turkey were Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire, including Greek refugees. [53] Today, emigration from Turkey consists primarily of Muslims.

St. Aphrem Cathedral, Sodertalje; the city is home to a large Syriac community, mostly from Tur Abdin. Sankt Afrems katedral i Sodertalje.jpg
St. Aphrem Cathedral, Södertälje; the city is home to a large Syriac community, mostly from Tur Abdin.

The percentage of Christians in Turkey fell from 19% (possibly 24% because of Ottoman underestimates) in 1914 to 2.5% in 1927, [55] due to events which significantly impacted the country's demographic structure, such as the Armenian genocide, the massacre of 500,000 Greeks, the massacre of 375,000 Assyrian Christians, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, [56] and the emigration of Christians (such as Levantines, Greeks, Armenians etc.) to foreign countries (mostly in Europe, the Americas, Lebanon and Syria) that actually began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century, especially during World War I and after the Turkish War of Independence. [57] Ottoman censuses underestimated the number of Christians, which was really close to 24.5% of the entire population, 4.3 million, not 3 million, as was reported. [58] The decline is mainly due to the Armenian genocide, the Greek genocide, the Assyrian genocide, the population exchange between Greece and Turkey and the emigration of Christians that began in the late 19th century and gained pace in the first quarter of the 20th century. [59] [13]

Emigration continued to occur in the 1980s, as Assyrian communities fled from the violence which was engulfing Tur Abdin during the Kurdish–Turkish conflict. [60] Today, more than 160,000 people of different Christian denominations represent less than 0.2% of Turkey's population, [61] Today, more than 200,000-320,000 people who are members of different Christian denominations live in Turkey, they make up roughly 0.3-0.4 percent of Turkey's population. [61]

Christian emigration from Maghreb

Prior to independence, Algeria was home to 1.4 million pieds-noirs (ethnic French who were mostly Catholic), [62] [63] Morocco was home to half a million Christian Europeans (mostly of Spanish and French ancestry), [63] [64] [65] Tunisia was home to 255,000 Christian Europeans (mostly of Italian and Maltese ancestry), [63] [66] and Libya was home to 145,000 Christian Europeans (mostly of Italian and Maltese ancestry). [63] There are also Christian communities of Berber or Arab descent in Greater Maghreb, made up of persons who converted mostly during the modern era, or under and after French colonialism. [63] [67] Due to the exodus of the pieds-noirs and other Christian communities in the 1960s, more North African Christians of Berber or Arab descent now live in France than in Greater Maghreb. [65]

Christian emigration from South Asia

India

Indian Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Sharjah.jpg
Indian Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Christians have also migrated from India but for their own reasons and in small few numbers, as India has been considered as one of the safest places for them in South Asia.

For instance in India, Christians comprise 2.2% of the population of India. In 2011, Christians represented 16% of the total people of Indian origin in Canada. [68] According to the 2011 Census, Christians represented 10% of the total people of Indian origin in the United Kingdom. [69] According to 2014 Pew Research Center research, 18% of Indian Americans consider themselves Christian (Protestant 11%, Catholic 5%, other Christian 3%). [70]

Pakistan

Christians have also fled Pakistan, especially in response to the application of Islamic blasphemy laws.

Christian emigration from East Asia

China

Chinese Presbyterian Church; the church is reputedly the oldest surviving Chinese church in Australia. Surry Hills Church 2.JPG
Chinese Presbyterian Church; the church is reputedly the oldest surviving Chinese church in Australia.

Christians have also fled China, especially in response to waves of religious persecution has been a contributory factors in emigration from China since it's a self-proclaimed communist state, and its declared state atheism.

There is a significantly higher percentage of Chinese Christians in the United States than there is in China, as a large amount of Chinese Christians fled and are still fleeing to the United States under Communist persecution. [72] [73] According to the Pew Research Center's 2012 Asian-American Survey, 30% of Chinese Americans aged 15 and over identified as Christians (8% were Catholic and 22% belonged to a Protestant denomination). [74]

North Korea

Christians have also fled from North Korea, especially in response to waves of religious persecution. The persecution of Christians in North Korea has contributed to their emigration because North Korea's government is a self-proclaimed communist state, and one of the guiding principles of its official ideology of Juche is state atheism.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Lebanon</span> Aspect of human geography in Lebanon

This is a demography of the population of Lebanon including population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrian people</span> Ethnic group indigenous to the Middle East

Assyrians are an indigenous ethnic group native to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians descend directly from Ancient Mesopotamians such as ancient Assyrians and Babylonians. Modern Assyrians may culturally self-identify as Syriacs, Chaldeans, or Arameans for religious, geographic, and tribal identification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab Christians</span>

Arab Christians are ethnic Arabs, Arab nationals, or Arabic speakers who follow Christianity. The number of Arab Christians who live in the Middle East was estimated in 2012 to be between 10 and 15 million. Arab Christian communities can be found throughout the Arab world, but are concentrated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of the Levant and Egypt, with smaller communities present throughout the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Assyrian–Chaldean–Syriac diaspora</span> Assyrians living outside their ancestral homeland

The Assyrian diaspora refers to ethnic Assyrians living in communities outside their ancestral homeland. The Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrians claim descent from the ancient Assyrians and are one of the few ancient Semitic ethnicities in the Near East who resisted Arabization, Turkification, Persianization and Islamization during and after the Muslim conquest of Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Lebanon</span> Overview of the history, presence and impact of Christianity in Lebanon

Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. Biblical Scriptures show that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, whom they affiliated to the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. Christianity spread slowly in Lebanon due to pagans who resisted conversion, but it ultimately spread throughout the country. Even after centuries of Muslim rule, it remains the dominant faith of the Mount Lebanon region and has substantial communities elsewhere.

Armenians in the Middle East are mostly concentrated in Iran, Lebanon, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem, although well-established communities exist in Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and other countries of the area including, of course, Armenia itself. They tend to speak the western dialect of the Armenian language and the majority are adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church, with smaller Catholic and Protestant minorities. There is a sizable Armenian population in the thousands in Israel. There is also the Armenian Quarter in Jerusalem with a history that goes back 2,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Syria</span> Overview of Christianity and churches in Syria

Christians in Syria made up about 10% of the pre-war Syrian population. The country's largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, closely followed by the Maronite Church and the Assyrian Church of the East; the cities of Damascus and Aleppo are believed to have the largest number of Christians in Syria. There is a small minority of Protestants in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Refugees of Iraq</span>

Refugees of Iraq are Iraqi nationals who have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. In 1980- 2017, large number of refugees fled Iraq, peaking with the Iraq War and continuing until the end of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). Precipitated by a series of conflicts including the Kurdish rebellions during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and the Gulf War (1991), the subsequent sanctions against Iraq (1991–2003), culminating in the Iraq War and the subsequent War in Iraq (2013–2017), millions were forced by insecurity to flee their homes in Iraq. Iraqi refugees established themselves in urban areas in other countries rather than refugee camps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syrians</span> Ethnic group

Syrians are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, who have Arabic, especially its Levantine dialect, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indigenous elements and the foreign cultures that have come to rule the land and its people over the course of thousands of years. By the seventh century, most of the inhabitants of the Levant spoke Aramaic. In the centuries after the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 634, Arabic became the dominant language, but a minority of Syrians retained Aramaic, which is still spoken in its Syriac and Western dialects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in Iraq</span> History of the Christian populace of Iraq

The Christians of Iraq are considered to be one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of the Arab world</span>

The Arab world consists of 22 states. As of 2021, the combined population of all the Arab states was around 475 million people.

For approximately a millennium, the Abrahamic religions have been predominant throughout all of the Middle East. The Abrahamic tradition itself and the three best-known Abrahamic religions originate from the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity emerged in the Levant in the 6th century BCE and the 1st century CE, respectively, while Islam emerged in Arabia in the 7th century CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in the Middle East</span>

Christianity, which originated in the Middle East during the 1st century AD, is a significant minority religion within the region, characterized by the diversity of its beliefs and traditions, compared to Christianity in other parts of the Old World. Christians now make up approximately 5% of the Middle Eastern population, down from 13% in the early 20th century. Cyprus is the only Christian majority country in the Middle East, with Christians forming between 76% and 78% of the country's total population, most of them adhering to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Lebanon has the second highest proportion of Christians in the Middle East, around 40%, predominantly Maronites. Egypt has the next largest proportion of Christians, at around 10% of its total population. Copts, numbering around 10 million, constitute the single largest Christian community in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in the Middle East</span>

Ethnic groups in the Middle East, in the 'transcontinental' region which is commonly a geopolitical term designating the intercontinental region comprising West Asia without the South Caucasus, and also comprising Egypt in North Africa. The region has historically been a crossroad of different cultures and languages. Since the 1960s, the changes in political and economic factors have significantly altered the ethnic composition of groups in the region. While some ethnic groups have been present in the region for millennia, others have arrived fairly recently through immigration. The largest socioethnic groups in the region are Arabs, Turks, Persians, Kurds, and Azerbaijanis but there are dozens of other ethnic groups that have hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of members.

Arab Australians refers to Australian citizens or residents with ancestry from the Middle East and North Africa, regardless of their ethnic origins. Many are not ethnically Arab but numerous groups who include Arabs, Kurds, Copts, Assyrians, Berbers and others. The majority are Christian by faith with minorities being Muslim, Druze, Yazidi and other faiths.

Arabs in Romania are people from Arab countries who live in Romania. The first Fellah settlers came in 1831 - 1833 from Ottoman Syria to Dobruja. They assimilated in the Turkish-Tatarian Population. Some of them came to Romania during the Ceaușescu era, when many Arab students were granted scholarships to study in Romanian universities. Most of them were Algerians, Syrians, Palestinians, Iraqis, Libyans, Egyptians, and Yemenis. Most of these students returned to their countries of origin, but some remained in Romania starting families here. It is estimated that almost half a million Middle Eastern Arabs studied in Romania during the 1980s. A new wave of Arab immigration started after the Romanian Revolution. Many of the newly arrived Arabs came to Romania in the 1990s in order to develop businesses. In addition, Romania has people from Arab countries who have the status of refugees or illegal immigrants, primarily from North Africa, trying to immigrate to Western Europe. In particular, the European migrant crisis lead to Syrian people coming to Romania, although many Syrians were already living in Romania at the time of the crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Middle Eastern people in Metro Detroit</span>

In 2004, Metro Detroit had one of the largest settlements of Middle Eastern people, including Arabs and Chaldo-Assyrians in the United States. As of 2007 about 300,000 people in Southeast Michigan traced their descent from the Middle East. Dearborn's sizeable Arab community consists largely of Lebanese people who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s, and of more recent Yemenis and Iraqis. In 2010 the four Metro Detroit counties had at least 200,000 people of Middle Eastern origin. Bobby Ghosh of TIME said that some estimates gave much larger numbers. From 1990 to 2000 the percentage of people speaking Arabic in the home increased by 106% in Wayne County, 99.5% in Macomb County, and 41% in Oakland County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palestinian diaspora</span> Part of the Arab diaspora

The Palestinian diaspora, part of the wider Arab diaspora, are Palestinian people living outside the region of Palestine.

The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Libya controlled by the Islamic terrorist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in the Middle East</span>

The Catholic Church in the Middle East is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. The Catholic Church is said to have traditionally originated in the Middle East in the 1st century AD, and was one of the major religions of the region from the 4th-century Byzantine reforms until the centuries following the Arab Islamic conquests of the 7th century AD. Ever since, its proportion has decreased until today's diaspora tendency, mainly due to persecution by Islamic majority societies. In most Islamic countries, the Catholic Church is severely restricted or outlawed. Significant exceptions include Israel and Lebanon.

References

  1. ↑ Barrett/Kurian.World Christian Encyclopedia, p. 139 (Britain), 281 (France), 299 (Germany).
  2. ↑ "Christians in the Middle East". BBC News. 15 December 2005. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  3. ↑ Katz, Gregory (25 December 2006). "Is Christianity dying in the birthplace of Jesus?". Chron.com. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "Arab Americans: Demographics". Arab American Institute. 2006. Archived from the original on 1 June 2006. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
  5. ↑ "Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'". BBC News. 3 May 2019.
  6. ↑ "Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world". www.catholiceducation.org. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08.
  7. ↑ "Persecution of Christians "coming close to genocide" in Middle East – report". TheGuardian.com . 2 May 2019.
  8. ↑ Radai, Itamar (2008). "The collapse of the Palestinian-Arab middle class in 1948: The case of Qatamon" (PDF). Middle Eastern Studies. 43 (6): 961–982. doi:10.1080/00263200701568352. ISSN   0026-3206. S2CID   143649224. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  9. ↑ Pacini, Andrea (1998). Christian Communities in the Arab Middle East: The Challenge of the Future. Clarendon Press. pp. 38, 55. ISBN   978-0-19-829388-0. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Curtis, Michael (2017). Jews, Antisemitism, and the Middle East. Routledge. p. 173. ISBN   9781351510721.
  11. ↑ "Syro-Lebanese Migration (1880–Present): "Push" and "Pull" Factors". Middle East Institute. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  12. ↑ "Emigration and Power A Study of Sects in Lebanon, 1860–2010". Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  13. 1 2 Quarterly, Middle East (2001). "Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East" (PDF). Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Ken Parry, The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), p. 107.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 "Diaspora, Copts in the" in The A to Z of the Coptic Church (ed. Gawdat Gabra: Scarecrow Press, 2009), pp. 91–92.
  16. ↑ Seteney Shami, "'Aqualliyya/Minority in Modern Egyptian Discourse" in Words in Motion: Toward a Global Lexicon (eds. Carol Gluck & Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing: Duke University Press, 2009), p. 168.
  17. ↑ Afe Adogame, The African Christian Diaspora: New Currents and Emerging Trends in World Christianity (A & C Black, 2013), p. 72.
  18. ↑ Krämer, Gudrun (1989). The Jews in Modern Egypt, 1914–1952. I.B. Tauris. ISBN   9781850431008.
  19. ↑ Wallace, Bruce (January 4, 2013). "Amid Instability In Egypt, Coptic Christians Flee To U.S." All Things Considered. NPR.
  20. ↑ Baumer, Christoph (2016). The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 276. ISBN   9781838609344.
  21. ↑ Cecolin, Alessandra (2015). Iranian Jews in Israel: Between Persian Cultural Identity and Israeli Nationalism. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 138. ISBN   9780857727886.
  22. ↑ Shoumanov, Vasili. Assyrians in Chicago. Arcadia Publishing.
  23. ↑ Bakalian, Anny (1993). Armenian Americans: From Being to Feeling Armenian. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers. p. 11. ISBN   1-56000-025-2.
  24. ↑ Papazian, Dennis (2000). "Armenians in America". Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. 52 (3–4). University of Michigan-Dearborn: 311–347. doi:10.2143/JECS.52.3.565605. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  25. ↑ Bittman, Mark (4 July 2013). "This Armenian Life". The New York Times . Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  26. ↑ Levin, Doron P. "WEST BLOOMFIELD JOURNAL; Jews and Ethnic Iraqis: A Neighborhood's Story." The New York Times . December 17, 1990. Retrieved on September 11, 2013.
  27. ↑ Jacob Bacall (2014). Chaldeans in Detroit. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4671-1255-0.
  28. ↑ "Christians live in fear of death squads". Irinnews.org. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  29. ↑ "Iraqi Christians' long history". BBC . 13 March 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
  30. ↑ "Abandoned and betrayed, Iraqi Christians rise up to reclaim their land". The National. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  31. ↑ "Iraq refugees chased from home, struggle to cope". CNN. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  32. ↑ U.N.: 100,000 Iraq refugees flee monthly. Alexander G. Higgins, Boston Globe , 3 November 2006
  33. ↑ Theresa Alfaro-Velcamp, "Immigrant positioning in twentieth-century Mexico: middle easterners, foreign citizens, and multiculturalism." Hispanic American Historical Review 86.1 (2006): 61-92.
  34. ↑ Bassil promises to ease citizenship for expatriates
  35. ↑ "Country Profile: Lebanon". FCO . 3 April 2007. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008.
  36. ↑ Rogan, Eugene (October 2004). "Sectarianism and Social Conflict in Damascus: The 1860 Events Reconsidered". Arabica. 51 (4): 494. doi:10.1163/1570058042342207 – via JSTOR.
  37. ↑ "CNEWA - Christian Emigration Report: Lebanon and Syria (23 January 2002 23 January 2002)". Archived from the original on 2006-04-27. Retrieved 2005-10-01.
  38. ↑ The Lebanese in the world: a century of emigration, Albert Habib Hourani, Nadim Shehadi, Centre for Lebanese Studies (Great Britain), Centre for Lebanese Studies in association with I.B. Tauris, 1992
  39. ↑ Between Argentines and Arabs: Argentine orientalism, Arab immigrants, and the writing of identity, Christina Civantos, SUNY Press, 2005, p. 6.
  40. ↑ Arab and Jewish immigrants in Latin America: images and realities, by Ignacio Klich, Jeff Lesser, 1998, pp. 165, 108.
  41. 1 2 Chronicles – Volume 26. 2002. p. 7.{{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  42. 1 2 The Palestinian Diaspora, p. 43, Helena Lindholm Schulz, 2005
  43. ↑ Laura Robson, Colonialism and Christianity in Mandate Palestine, p. 162
  44. ↑ Farsoun, Samih (2004). Culture and Customs of the Palestinians.
  45. ↑ Bernard Sabella. "Palestinian Christians: Challenges and Hopes". Bethlehem University. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2004.
  46. ↑ 'You See How Many We Are!'. David Adams lworldcommunication.org Archived 17 September 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  47. ↑ Palestine in South America. V!VA Travel Guides. vivatravelsguides.com Archived 18 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
  48. ↑ John Tofik Karam (2008). Another Arabesque: Syrian-Lebanese Ethnicity in Neoliberal Brazil. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. p. 44. ISBN   978-1-59213-541-7 . Retrieved 26 December 2015.
  49. ↑ Singh, Shubha. "Like India, Syria has a large diaspora (With stories on Syrian president's visit)". Theindian News. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  50. ↑ Why Do So Few Christian Syrian Refugees Register With The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees?, Marwan Kreidie: Adjunct Professor of Political Science, West Chester University.
  51. ↑ Connor, Phillip. "U.S. admits record number of Muslim refugees in 2016".
  52. ↑ "Syria". Central Intelligence Agency. February 27, 2023 – via CIA.gov.
  53. ↑ Matthew J. Gibney, Randall Hansen. (2005). Immigration and Asylum: from 1900 to the Present, Volume 3 . ABC-CLIO. p.  377. ISBN   1-57607-796-9. The total number of Christians who fled to Greece was probably in the region of I.2 million with the main wave occurring in 1922 before the signing of the convention. According to the official records of the Mixed Commission which was set up in order to monitor the movements, the "Greeks' who were transferred after 1923 numbered 189,916 and the number of Muslims who were expelled to Turkey was 355,635.
  54. ↑ Lundgren, Svante (15 May 2019). The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq. Nineveh Press. p. 14. ISBN   978-91-984101-7-4.
  55. ↑ İçduygu, Ahmet; Toktaş, Şule; Ali Soner, B. (1 February 2008). "The politics of population in a nation-building process: emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 31 (2): 358–389. doi:10.1080/01419870701491937. S2CID   143541451.
  56. ↑ Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821-1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF), Nikolaos Andriotis, 2008
  57. ↑ Quarterly, Middle East (2001). "'Editors' Introduction: Why a Special Issue?: Disappearing Christians of the Middle East" (PDF). Middle East Quarterly. Editors' Introduction. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
  58. ↑ İçduygu, Ahmet; Toktaş, Şule; Ali Soner, B. (1 February 2008). "The politics of population in a nation-building process: Emigration of non-Muslims from Turkey". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 31 (2): 358–389. doi:10.1080/01419870701491937. S2CID   143541451.
  59. ↑ Chapter The refugees question in Greece (1821–1930) in "Θέματα Νεοελληνικής Ιστορίας", ΟΕΔΒ ("Topics from Modern Greek History"). 8th edition (PDF), Nikolaos Andriotis, 2008
  60. ↑ Lundgren, Svante (15 May 2019). The Assyrians: Fifty Years in Swedenq. Nineveh Press. p. 14. ISBN   978-91-984101-7-4.
  61. 1 2 "Religions". Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  62. ↑ Cook, Bernard A. (2001). Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia . New York: Garland. pp.  398. ISBN   978-0-8153-4057-7.
  63. 1 2 3 4 5 Greenberg, Udi; A. Foster, Elizabeth (2023). Decolonization and the Remaking of Christianity. Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 105. ISBN   9781512824971.
  64. ↑ De Azevedo, Raimondo Cagiano (1994) Migration and development co-operation. . Council of Europe. p. 25. ISBN   92-871-2611-9.
  65. 1 2 F. Nyrop, Richard (1972). Area Handbook for Morocc. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. p. 97. ISBN   9780810884939.
  66. ↑ Angus Maddison (20 September 2007). Contours of the World Economy 1–2030 AD:Essays in Macro-Economic History: Essays in Macro-Economic History. OUP Oxford. p. 214. ISBN   978-0-19-922721-1 . Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  67. ↑ Fahlbusch, Erwin; Bromiley, Geoffrey William; Lochman, Jan Milie; Mbiti, John; Pelikan, Jaroslav; Barrett, David B.; Vischer, Lukas (24 July 1999). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN   9780802824158 – via Google Books.
  68. ↑ The East Indian Community in Canada Archived 4 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine . Statcan.gc.ca (16 July 2007). Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  69. ↑ DC2201EW - Ethnic group and religion (Excel sheet 21Kb) Archived 23 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine ONS. 2015-09-15. Retrieved 2016-01-14.
  70. ↑ "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". Pew Research Center. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on July 16, 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  71. ↑ So Great A Cloud Of Witness. Chinese Presbyterian Church. 1993. p. 1. ISBN   0646138340.
  72. ↑ "Group: Officials destroying crosses, burning bibles in China". AP NEWS. 10 September 2018. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
  73. ↑ University, Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown. "Freedom of Religion in China: A Historical Perspective". berkleycenter.georgetown.edu. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  74. ↑ "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Pew Research Center. 19 July 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2013. Unaffiliated 52%, Protestant 22%, Buddhist 15%, Catholic 8%
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.