Persecution of Christians is on the rise in at least 18 countries, especially in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, due to growing jihadism and nationalism, according to a report released by the group Aid to the Church in Need. The ACN examined human rights violations against believers in 24 countries where it is particularly difficult to be a Christian. An analysis of the persecution in the years 2020-2022, compared to 2017-2019, shows that the situation for Christians has become worse, or “slightly worse,” in at least 18 countries.

These countries include Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Sudan, Nigeria, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, India and Qatar, according to the report titled “Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2020-22.” Around the world, more than 360 million Christians live in places where they experience high levels of persecution just for following Jesus — that’s one in seven believers worldwide, according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List, which ranks the top 50 countries where Christians experience the worst persecution for their faith.

The ACN said its report was presented in the Houses of Parliament in the U.K. with a keynote address by Nigeria’s Bishop Jude Arogundade. Arogundade’s Diocese of Ondo was targeted by gunmen who killed more than 40 people at a packed Sunday service on Pentecost Sunday last year. He commented, “no one seems to pay attention to the genocide” taking place in swathes of Nigeria’s Middle Belt. “The world is silent as attacks on churches, their personnel and institutions have become routine. How many corpses are required to get the world’s attention?” he said.

African countries saw a sharp rise in terrorist violence from non-state militants, with more than 7,600 Nigerian Christians murdered between January 2021 and June 2022 the ACN reported. In May, a video was released showing 20 Nigerian Christians being executed by Islamist terror group Boko Haram and Islamic State’s West Africa Province.

In Asia, “state-authoritarianism” was behind the worsening oppression, especially in North Korea, where religious beliefs and practices are routinely and systematically repressed, it said. The report also noted that religious nationalism has triggered increasing violence against Christians in the region, with Hindu nationalist and Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist groups active in India and Sri Lanka, respectively.

The report noted that India witnessed 710 incidents of anti-Christian violence between January 2021 and the start of June, “driven in part by political extremism.” It cited an example of a mass rally in Chhattisgarh state, where members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party applauded as right-wing Hindu religious leader Swami Parmatmanand called for Christians to be killed.

In the Middle East, the report said a migration crisis threatened the survival of some of the world’s oldest Christian communities. In Syria, the Christian population declined from 10% to less than 2%, falling from 1.5 million just before the war began to around 300,000 today. ACN added that while the rate of exodus is slower in Iraq, there was a community that numbered around 300,000 before the 2014 invasion by ISIS had halved to 150,000 by the spring of 2022.

Even Europe was not immune to the rise in persecution. From 2020-2021, over 1,500 anti-Christian hate crimes occurred. Open Doors USA’s 2022 World Watch List, which looked at incidents reported between Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, found at least 5,898 Christians were killed, 5,110 churches were attacked or closed, 6,175 Christians were arrested without trial, and 3,829 Christians were kidnapped. 2021 saw a 24% increase in Christians killed for their faith.

Biblical Connection: The Bible describes a great persecution on the Tribulation Saints that will arise in the last days. Could current situations be laying the foundation for this prophecy? Only time will tell.

PRAY: Pray for the persecuted church throughout the world.