By Male Marvin
Each year, the World Watch List comes with the top 50 countries in the world where Christians face the most extreme persecution for their faith.
Published by Open Doors USA, the point of the initiative is to shine a light on the strength and the suffering of the family of God around the world—to drive Christians to our knees in prayer and then to our feet to stand with our brothers and sisters.
While releasing the list this week, Mr David Curry the President/CEO of Open Doors USA said the organisation noticed how Christian women are especially targeted around the world.
“Often, they are culturally discriminated against because they are women—and when it’s discovered they follow Jesus, the suffering can be even worse,” he said.
According to the report, as many as 4,136 Christians were murdered last year because of their faith, while 1,266 churches or Christian buildings were attacked.
In seven out of the top 10 World Watch List countries of 2019, the primary cause of persecution is Islamic oppression.
“For millions of Christians—particularly those who grew up Muslim or were born into Muslim families—openly following Jesus can have painful consequences. They can be treated as second-class citizens, discriminated against for jobs or even violently attacked,” the report read.
Additionally, for the first time since the start of the World Watch List, India has entered the top 10. Additionally, China jumped 16 spots, from 43 to 27.
Places like Vietnam, Myanmar and North Korea all saw increase in stricter state control of religious rights, and according to the report, this was made possible in part by the “ever-spreading availability of personal digital technology, which governments can increasingly track through facial recognition, electronic chips and so on.”
Looking at the numbers, the Christian Post reported that 245 million Christians in the top 50 countries in the World Watch List are expected to face high levels of persecution in the coming year, which is an increase from the 215 million projected last year.
“Worldwide, our data reveals that 13.9 percent more Christians are experiencing high levels of persecution than last year,” the report said.
North Korea was listed at the very top of the World Watch List for the 17th-consecutive year, with Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Yemen, Iran, and India rounding up the top 10.
Full List
1 North Korea
2 Afghanistan
3 Somalia
4 Libya
5 Pakistan
6 Sudan
7 Eritrea
8 Yemen
9 Iran
10 India
11 Syria
12 Nigeria
13 Iraq
14 Maldives
15 Saudi Arabia
16 Egypt
17 Uzbekistan
18 Myanmar
19 Laos
20 Vietnam
21 Central African Republic
22 Algeria
23 Turkmenistan
24 Mali
25 Mauritania
26 Turkey
27 China
28 Ethiopia
29 Tajikistan
30 Indonesia
31 Jordan
32 Nepal
33 Bhutan
34 Kazakhstan
35 Morocco
36 Brunei
37 Tunisia
38 Qatar
39 Mexico
40 Kenya
41 Russian Federation
42 Malaysia
43 Kuwait
44 Oman
45 United Arab Emirates
46 Sri Lanka
47 Colombia
48 Bangladesh
49 Palestinian Territories
50 Azerbaijan
