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The death of this man-who crossed the desert of persecution to reach the promise of a European homeland-becomes a symbol of the crisis of the West. Opinion.
The West always likes refugee stories. Not all of them. Not this one. Not the story of a Christian who fled from the East to live and died in the West for believing.
It was 10:30 p.m. when the Assyrian Ashur Sarnaya returned to the apartment he shared with his sister in Lyon, in a quiet neighborhood where public housing stands alongside student campuses, corporate offices, and a few shops. The 45-year-old Iraqi Christian refugee from the Assyrian-Chaldean community was disabled from birth and used a wheelchair. That evening, as usual, he went live on TikTok to talk about his faith. Ashur made his videos in Arabic or Aramaic. During the livestream, Ashur Sarnaya was slit in the throat and lay dying in his wheelchair.
His only pleasure was wandering around the neighborhood, where everyone liked him; his main occupation was sharing his faith on TikTok. For this, he was martyred with machete blows by a coward. He read the Bible and recited Hebrew Psalms-something unthinkable for radical Islamists.
Sabri B., an Algerian citizen suspected of the murder and linked to ISIS, turned off his phone right after killing Ashur and left Lyon that night, heading for Italy. He passed through Milan, Rome, and then reached Puglia. His escape ended ten days later, in a house in Andria, where another Algerian hosted him.
Investigations now describe in detail the threats Ashur had been subjected to, both online and in person.
We know that the killer, Sabri B., had connected to Ashur’s livestream 30 minutes before the crime, without speaking. Ashur’s livestreams were regularly watched by hostile users. A user claiming to be Palestinian Arab living in Lyon often joined the livestreams, insulting and threatening Sarnaya: “I’m coming, get ready.”
Another, claiming to be Tunisian, asked where the Christian influencer lived, saying he would find him eventually: “We’ll kill you.”
In the summer, someone sent him a message reading: “We know where you are, this won’t continue.” It was accompanied by a photo of Ashur near his home.
His sister now feels “in danger” in France. Madlin Sarnaya told BFMTV that she and her brother had come to France “because we needed protection.” They had fled Iraq in 2014 after “an armed Islamist ordered them to convert or leave.” “Killing my brother because he spoke of Christian faith-do you think that’s normal?” the sister asks.
Many in the West, yes-they think so.
Dozens of exiles from the Islamic world like Ashur have found death or conflict in Europe.
Iranian exile Afshin Ellian, now at Utrecht University, is guarded by bodyguards-it looks more like a bank than a law department.
Iraqi exile Salwan Momika was murdered during a live broadcast in Sweden-“screaming like a pig,” reported Expressen. A Syriac Catholic from Nineveh, Iraq, he had witnessed ISIS’s persecution of Christians and the murder of his family.
Somali journalist Kadra Yusuf infiltrated Oslo’s mosques and lives under protection.
In Germany, Mina Ahadi, founder of the Council of Ex-Muslims, lives under constant threat for committing “apostasy”-a crime punishable by death in dozens of Muslim countries, including many “Western allies.”
Fatma Bläser, victim of a forced marriage and author of “Hennamond”, lives under police protection.
In Paris, Mohammed Sifaoui, a journalist who fled Algeria, is under guard.
In Berlin, Turkish-born Seyran Ates is protected by five heavily armed agents.
In the Netherlands, Turkish writer Lale Gül lives under protection.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali had to flee Europe.
Yesterday in the East, today in the West.
And now, in the murky silence of our Western conscience, echoes this unheard-of tragedy: a refugee who had sought safety and hope was slaughtered here, on soil that proclaimed hospitality but revealed its darkest wound. His crime? His faith. The freedom to bear witness to belief.
The death of this man-who crossed the desert of persecution to reach the promise of a European homeland-becomes a symbol of the crisis of the West. A West that has lost courage and yielded to the blackmail of violence and silence.
We have entered the night of the spirit, the twilight of an identity dissolving as witnesses of faith are struck down in the name of hatred.
If even the broken voice of a refugee in a wheelchair doesn’t shake us, then truly the twilight of the West has already begun-and no one can say they didn’t see it coming.
