Persecution of Christians worldwide increased during the Covid pandemic, with followers being refused help in many countries, authoritarian governments stepping up surveillance and Islamic militants exploring the crisis, says a report.
More than 340 million Christians – one in eight – face high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith, according to the 2021 World Watch List compiled by the Christian advocacy group Open Doors.
He says there was a 60% increase over the previous year in the number of Christians killed for their faith. More than nine out of 10 of the global total of 4,761 deaths occurred in Africa.
“The growing persecution of Christians around the world must upset us all,” said David Landrum, the head of defense for Open Doors in the UK and Ireland. “Religious freedom is what underpins many other human rights and civil liberties. Oppressive governments know this and are exploiting the pandemic crisis to turn the tide on Christians. ”
The World Watch List ranks 50 countries in which Christians face persecution and discrimination, with North Korea first, as it has been for the past 20 years.
China returned to the top 20 for the first time in a decade, and India and Turkey also reported an increase in government authoritarianism and nationalism.
The report says that Christians in several countries in Africa and Asia have not received help related to Covid – sometimes by government officials, but more often by village heads or committees. In Kaduna, Nigeria, families from several villages reported having received one-sixth of the rations allocated to Muslim families.
In China, the government has increased surveillance, with facial recognition systems installed in state-approved churches in some areas and monitored online services. The government’s campaign to “sinicize” Christianity has meant that crosses and other Christian images have been replaced with photos of President Xi Jinping and national flags, and Communist officials selecting religious leaders, the report says.
In India, the Hindu nationalist government has promoted a climate in which attacks and persecution of Christians and Muslims have increased. Foreign funding for hospitals, schools and religious organizations run by Christians has been blocked.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, Christians faced 30% higher levels of violence than last year at the hands of militant Islamic groups that took advantage of the blockades and governments weakened by the crisis, the report says. In Nigeria, the number of Christians killed has almost tripled to 3,800 recorded deaths.
Among the positive developments were Sudan’s new constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion and no longer specifying Islam as an official religion; and in northern Iraq, Muslim volunteers are repairing destroyed churches and houses to encourage Christians to return to the area.
Open Doors publishes its World Watch List every year since 2002. It scores countries based on levels of violence and persecution in private, family, community, civic and ecclesial life.