Special force police in Algeria raided a worship service at a humanitarian shelter on Sept. 4, arresting all 12 Christians present on suspicion of holding an unauthorized, non-Muslim religious service, sources said.
The House of Refuge shelter in L’Ayaida, 36 kilometers (22 miles) east of Oran, serves as a haven and restoration center for vulnerable women and their families. It housed a worship hall before authorities ordered its administrative closure in October 2019, but Christians have continued to meet for church services in one of the separate apartments on the shelter premises.
The premises have been under surveillance for some time, sources said.
After law enforcement officers raided the site with a search warrant, the 12 detained Christians were transferred to the Bethioua police station about 40 kilometers from Oran.
During the operation, police seized all Christian literature, mobile phones and identity cards of those present, said the sources, unidentified for security reasons. The women were released to be questioned the following morning, while the men were held until late at night, some until 3 a.m.
Christians fear the detainees could be charged under Ordinance 06-03 governing non-Muslim worship in Algeria, which heavily criminalizes collective worship outside the officially approved state framework or any action deemed to “shake the faith of a Muslim.” The restrictive law exposes them to heavy fines and substantial prison sentences.
Punishment under the 2006 law can range from two to five years in prison and fines of 500,000 to 1 million Algerian dinars ($3,745 to $7,490). It requires non-Muslim worship buildings to be licensed, but all applications to do so have remained unattended.
The arrested Christians were not yet brought before a prosecutor, who would then quickly take them to court for judgment.
Christian support group Open Doors has reported that nearly all of the 47 official churches affiliated with the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) have received administrative closure orders or have been sealed by the authorities. More than 50 Christians have been prosecuted for their faith in recent years, according to the organization.
The Sept. 4 raid was part of a long-standing pattern of judicial harassment against Christians in Algeria, particularly in the Oran Region. In 2021, authorities convicted Pastor Rachid Seighir and Nouh Hamimi and closed their bookstore. Also notable were the harsh five-year prison sentence handed down to Hamid Soudad, imprisoned for January 2021 to July 23 as part of a five-year sentence for “insulting Islam” related to Facebook caricature, before he was ultimately pardoned in 2023.
EPA Vice-President Youcef Ourahmane was sentenced on appeal in May 2024 to one year in prison simply for organizing a spiritual retreat; originally he had been sentenced to two years and a fine. Pastor Ourahmane is the founder of the Timothee School and the L’Ayeida refuge center.
These cases and significant events all attest to the persistence of a policy aimed at criminalizing the Christian faith and its structures within the country.
According to Christians in the Béjaïa, Tizi Ouzou, and Bouira regions, authorities in the past month have been seeking to permanently resolve the “church issue” in Algeria. To this end, special envoys were appointed and sent across the country to meet with various leaders who were not affiliated with the EPA. Their mission was to identify and approach congregants, urging them to join a new Christian association project intended to replace the EPA.
This maneuver aims to orchestrate a reorganization under strict state control, paving the way for the potential reopening of places of worship subject to conditions rigorously imposed by the government.
The number of Christians in Algeria is estimated at about 150,000 people, 0.3 percent of the total population of 48 million, according to Open Doors. There are 8,000 Catholics, while Methodists, Anglicans and Mennonites are made up mostly of foreigners, including diplomats.
Algeria ranked 20th on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.
