Leaving home: Christians who remain in Syria face a grim future

A sharia court set up in a building in Kansabba, Syria. The writing on the left reads: "Judge people according to the words of Allah." Centre: "Sharia Court." Right: "There is no God but Allah."

A couple of days after she fled Syria for Turkey, a colleague sent me a message.

"Dear Nuri, this is a court that the extremists established in my city, Lattakia, in the [Syrian] village of Kansabba. This Islamic court issues the law according to the extremists' religion. It started today. They are forcing everyone to adopt their fundamentalist Islamic laws."

Now she is waiting for smugglers to take her to Sweden.

The same day she sent me the message, fighting intensified between rival Syrian opposition factions and 12 Islamic groups that had left the Free Syrian Army. That fact scared all non-Muslims. Keep reading

Also read
Persecuted Syrian Christians Staying Behind, Reaching Out to Muslim Neighbors Despite Attacks