Study: Today's persecution of Christians is the worst in 30 years

Human rights activists have published a list of countries with the highest levels of persecution of Christians. Photo: christianitytoday.com

“Open Doors”, a human rights group, has published the results of a study which shows that the level of Christian persecution in the world is back to the numbers recorded in 1993.

According to “Open Doors”, 5,600 Christians were murdered in 2022, more than 2,100 churches were closed or attacked, more than 124,000 Christians were forcibly evicted from their homes because of their faith, and nearly 15,000 became refugees.

Human rights activists point out that "the Black Africa region – the epicentre of global Christianity – is also becoming an epicentre of crime against Christians as Islamic extremism intensifies."

At the same time, “Open Doors” noted that in some countries the level of persecution appears to have decreased. However, this is not entirely true.

For example, the decline in China is because Chinese officials have already managed to close nearly 7,000 churches in the past two years. Similarly, the move of Afghanistan from the 1st position in persecution rates last year to the 9th position this year is because "most Afghan Christians have gone deep underground or fled abroad since the Taliban came to power".

Overall, and the same as last year, 360 million Christians live in countries with high levels of persecution.

“Open Doors” notes that over the past 30 years, that is, since 1993, "the persecution of Christians has continued to intensify in the same way", and the number of countries that have made the list of the most dangerous for Christians has risen from 40 in 1993 to 76 today.

Earlier, “Open Doors” believes nationalism is the cause of the persecution of Christians in India.

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