Morocco: Christians Deported

The Moroccan government has deported twenty-eight Christian workers so far in May, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts.

“The Moroccan government continues political pressures against us Moroccan believers and against the foreign workers, and if it stopped for a while before, it was only to restart again and strongly,” VOM contacts said. “Please continue to pray and also to act, because if this … continues, soon we’ll not be deported but [we will be] arrested or even killed.”

In recent months, the government has increased its crackdown on Christians, expelling as many as 60 Christian aid workers from the country. Moroccan police have accused Christian aid workers from the United States, Korea, Netherlands and England of violating Morocco’s anti-proselytism laws.

“On March 8, police visited the orphanage Village of Hope, which has been operating with the government’s approval for the past ten years,” Smyrna Ministries International reported. “They scoured the grounds looking for Bibles, interrogated children and staff members and announced that the [foster] parents had seven hours to pack and say goodbye to [the children]. All fifteen of the foster parents, the only parents these children have ever known, were deported before nightfall, leaving the 33 children with the police.”

Following the orphanage raid, government authorities reportedly targeted believers across Morocco. “When [authorities] visited an American-founded orphanage in the town of Azrou, they drew several young children aside and demanded they demonstrate the ‘proper’ way to pray,” Smyrna Ministries International reported. “In Marrakesh, authorities arrested a Korean-born Protestant pastor during his Sunday service, and in the northern city of Larache they deported an Egyptian church leader.”

Christians in Morocco think the crackdown is coming from two newly appointed government officials who took office in January. Interior Minister Tayeb Cherkaoui recently issued a press release stating, “[Christians] are guilty of trying to undermine the faith of Muslims.”

The Voice of the Martyrs encourages you to pray that the deported Christian leaders and workers will not give in to anger or discouragement but will forgive their persecutors. Pray that God will protect and comfort the orphans from Village of Hope and that they will receive the love and care they need. Pray for Moroccan believers who have lost their pastors and face interrogation.