January, 2016
The
2016 Open Doors World Watch List,
released today, shows that global persecution of Christian is more extreme than
ever before.
Although the attention of the world's press and politicians has been on
persecution in Syria and Iraq, those countries are just the tip of the
iceberg.
Systematic religious cleansing is widespread across Africa and the Middle
East. Every year well over 100 million Christians are persecuted because of
their beliefs. Extreme Islamic fundamentalism is rising most sharply in
sub-Saharan Africa, where more people are killed for their Christian faith than
anywhere else in the world.
Open Doors records show that worldwide there were well over 7,000
Christians killed for faith-related reasons in the reporting period. That is a
rise of almost 3,000 in comparison to the figures from the previous year. (And
this excludes North Korea, Syria and Iraq, where accurate records do not exist.)
Statistics also show that around 2,300 churches were attacked or damaged, which
is over double the number for last year.
Summing up this year's figures, Lisa Pearce, CEO of Open Doors UK &
Ireland said: "The persecution of Christians is getting worse, in every region
in which we work - and it's getting worse fast."
The 2016 World Watch List was discussed at the House of Commons at a
cross-party launch on the 13th of January with over 100 MPs.
During his visit in November 2015 to mark Open
Doors 60th anniversary the Prime
Minister David Cameron said, "Standing up for religious freedom is a priority
for my Government. We are committed to promoting and protecting the right to
freedom of religion or belief as one of the foundations of human rights. No
matter what faith we follow, charity, compassion, responsibility and forgiveness
are values which speak to us all." (REALLY????)
Click here for Open Doors World Watch List 2016.
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