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Persecution News - Yemen

Update: Negotiations begin for release of Christian hostages
(January 14, 2010)

Update: Day of prayer and fasting called for kidnapped foreigners
(October 28, 2009)

Christian relief workers abducted and killed
(June 24, 2009)

Yemen Profile

Total Area:
527,970 sq. km

Population:
23,013,376 (July 2008 est.)

Ethnicity:
Predominantly Arab; but also Afro-Arab, South Asians, Europeans

Language:
Arabic

Religion:
Muslim including Shaf'i (Sunni) and Zaydi (Shi'a), small numbers of Jewish, Christian, and Hindu

Government Type:
Republic

Capital:
Sanaa

Population Below Poverty Line:
35% (2003)

Country Reports

Update: Day of prayer and fasting called for kidnapped foreigners

October 28, 2009

The three Christians who were killed in June

Four months after their abduction, there continues to be no reliable news on the condition of the remaining six expatriate Christians kidnapped in mid-June by unknown assailants in Yemen (read the story). On June 12, nine foreign Christians were abducted -- four German adults, three small German children, a British man and a South Korean woman -- after they ventured outside the city of Sa'ada. All of them worked at a hospital in the city. Shortly afterwards, Rita Stumpp (26) and Anita Gruenwald (24), German nurses in training, and Eom Young-sun (33) of South Korea were killed and their bodies found by local shepherds. Still missing are German doctor Johannes (36), his wife Sabine (36), their three children Lydia (4), Anna (3) and Simon (1) and British engineer Anthony S. Their whereabouts and condition remain unknown. Anthony is married but his wife did not accompany him on this trip.

As Middle East Concern (MEC) has noted, the work of the hospital where they worked has been severely reduced as a result, affecting the city and the wider area. No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions and killings, which MEC notes is "unusual within Yemeni culture, and heightens the concern and anxiety." The search for the missing has been greatly hindered by the intense fighting between the government forces and the Houthi armed group in Sa'ada province, which has flared up again since June.

To learn more about the opposition facing Christians in Yemen, visit the Yemen Country Report.