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Sudan: Difficulties for people distributing food and clothing in Khartoum for the Catholic Church; Christian charities or charities helping Christians operating in Khartoum (2000-2001)

No information about difficulties for people distributing food and clothing in Khartoum for the Catholic Church could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Regarding Christian charities or charities helping Christians, the following information may be useful. However, it does not specifically mention whether the "religiously oriented organizations" are charities or not. In the 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, the United States Department of State states:

Missionaries continue to do other work, and a wide range of Christian missionary groups operated in both government and rebel-controlled areas of the country. However, authorities often harassed foreign missionaries and other religiously oriented organizations and delayed their requests for work permits and residence visas. ... The Government is generally least restrictive of Christian groups that historically have had a presence in the country, including Copts, Roman Catholics, and Greek Orthodox, and is more restrictive of newer arrivals (5 September 2000, Section I).

The Report goes on to say:

Catholic priests report that they routinely are stopped and interrogated by police. Security forces also detained persons apparently in relation to their religious beliefs and activities. Generally, detentions based nominally on religion were of limited duration; because the practice of religion is not technically illegal, detainees could not be held formally on those grounds indefinitely (ibid.).

No other information about Christian charities or charities helping Christians operating in Khartoum could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Reference

United States. Department of State. Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 5 September 2000. 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. <http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/irf/irf_rpt/irf_sudan.html> [Accessed 28 June 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

Two oral sources did not respond to information requests.

Africa Confidential

Africa Research Bulletin

Africa South of the Sahara

IRB Databases

Keesings' Record of World Events [Cambridge].

Lexis/Nexis

Sudan Democratic Gazette [London]

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

BBC

Catholic Relief Services

Country Reports

Eglise Soudan

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Sudan.Net

World News Connection (WNC)

Search Engines:

Google

Lycos

Topics: Catholic,