As the U.S. tightens immigration enforcement, officials have deported an Indonesian Christian back to a country grappling with persistent Christian persecution.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on Thursday morning put Arino Massie on a plane back to Indonesia. ICE detained Massie and three other Indonesian Christian men earlier this month when they came for their annual routine check-in. Massie’s lawyer had applied for a stay of removal, but the court rejected it.

Massie and several other Christians fled persecution in Indonesia in the 1990s, but many of them missed the deadline to apply for amnesty. The Reformed Church of Highland Park, N.J., which has been an advocate for Indonesian Christians in the state, helped to strike a deal with ICE that allowed them to stay in the United States. The immigrants in return had to keep a clean record and meet annually with ICE officials. Massie lived in New Jersey for 16 years with his wife and13-year-old son, who are both still in the country. Massie’s son said he was in school when his father was deported and pleaded for his return.

Indonesia ranks 46th on the Open Doors USA list of the most difficult countries for Christians to live. An Indonesian court recently sentenced the country’s first Christian governor to two years in prison for blasphemy. Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale of the Reformed Church said Massie and the other detained Christians could be at risk in Indonesia.

“They are most likely on a targeted list in Indonesia for highlighting the human rights violations and minority religious and ethnic abuses that led to their initial escape,” Kaper-Dale said.

Under the Trump administration, ICE has arrested more than 41,000 illegal immigrants—a 37.6 percent increase from last year. Officials mostly arrest criminal offenders, although the number of non-criminal arrests also has increased. ICE Acting Director Thomas Homan said the data shows the agency “continues to execute our mission professionally and in accordance with the law, and our communities will be much safer for it.”

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., wrote a letter to John Tsoukaris, ICE field office director, calling on him to realize the men’s deportation would put their lives at risk and affect families still in the country.

“I understand the current administration’s immigration priorities have changed and that you are tasked with carrying out these directives,” Pallone said. “However, I ask that you continue to exercise prosecutorial discretion.”

Freed Chibok girls reunite with their families

Parents and family members of the recently released 82 Chibok girls celebrated their daughters’ return in a Sunday reunion in the capital, Abuja. The reunion included tight hugs, happy tears, and dancing, Channels TV reported. The girls had not seen their families since Boko Haram fighters kidnapped them in 2014. Yakubu Nkeki, who leads the Chibok parents association and traveled to see his niece, told AFP the parents attended Sunday service with their daughters and would return home later this week.

In October, the Nigerian government and international intermediaries negotiated the release of 21 Chibok girls, the first group to regain their freedom. The two groups of girls reunited on Saturday in Abuja. They are taking part in a rehabilitation process organized by the Women’s Affairs Ministry. Some families and human rights groups have complained the nine- to 12-month rehabilitation process is too long and too far away from the girls’ homes in northeastern Chibok.

Meanwhile, Nigerian troops continue with the crackdown on Boko Haram fighters, who have now been reduced to sporadic attacks. Army officials said they killed 13 of the fighters and arrested 10 others in a Saturday raid in the Lake Chad area. —O.O.

Ebola epidemic hits DRC

Another Ebola outbreak has hit the Democratic Republic of Congo, three years after the epidemic that plowed through several West African nations. Congo’s Ministry of Health declared the epidemic on May 11 in the remote northeastern province of Bas Uele. The World Health Organization said four people likely died from the outbreak and the country has another 37 suspected cases. This is the eighth Ebola outbreak the country has faced. The 2014 epidemic killed more than 11,000 people in Congo and several other West African countries. In a bid to prevent a similar widespread epidemic, Congo’s Health Ministry already has teamed up with international groups to dispatch protective gear to the region and set up mobile lab centers. In neighboring Rwanda, the Health Ministry has started health screening at its international airport and some border crossings. Matshido Moeti, the WHO’s Africa chief, told Voice of America she is optimistic the country can control the epidemic’s spread because “this is a government that is experienced at this, and which has got off to a right start and we are already on the ground with the partners.” —O.O.

Crackdown on religious freedom in Kazakhstan

Much like its northern neighbor Russia, Kazakhstan is cracking down on religious freedom under the guise of fighting terrorism. A court recently convicted 60-year-old Teymur Akhmedov, a Jehovah’s Witness, for “inciting ethnic, social, religious, family, and racial hatred,” Interfax Religion reported. Akhmedov had spoken about his religion with secret police posing as interested students, Forum 18 reported. The judge sentenced him to five years in prison and banned him from preaching for three years after he gets out. Last month, police also raided Easter services in at least two cities and fined four Baptist leaders. Authorities often raid Baptist churches because they conscientiously object to church registration. Hanafi Islam and Orthodox Christianity enjoy the most freedom as the nation’s “historic” faiths. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom noted in its latest report that religious freedom has deteriorated in Kazakhstan as the country tightens restrictions following attacks on security forces. More restrictive anti-terror legislation is expected. Before 2011, Kazakhstan allowed more freedom of religion than most Central Asian countries. —Julia A. Seymour

Egypt sends suspected Islamists to military court over church attacks

Egypt has referred some 48 suspected Islamic militants to the country’s military judiciary following recent bombings against Coptic churches. The public prosecutor’s office said 31 of the suspects already are in custody, while 17 remain at large. The last two attacks happened on April 9 at St. George’s Church and St. Mark’s Cathedral, killing at least 44 people. In December, a bombing killed at least 25 people during Sunday mass at St Peter’s Church. Public prosecutor Nabil Sadek said in a statement that some of the suspects held leadership positions in Islamic State and formed cells across Egypt to carry out the church attacks. —O.O.