Last year was the most violent for Christians in modern history, rising to “a level akin to ethnic cleansing,” according to a report by Open Doors USA, a watchdog group that advocates for Christians.
This week on Thursday, a global charity that investigates the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities issued a new report that reveals believers are further facing a rising level of intolerance and such severe oppression, particularly under seven nations of concern, that “it can scarcely get worse.”
Persecution watchdog group Aid to the Church in Need, through its report dubbed “Religious Freedom in the World” , highlights the growing cases of intolerance around the world, particularly between the time period of June 2014 and June 2016 — coinciding with the rise of the Islamic State terror group.
The report includes case by case studies of a number of different countries around the world, and the religious discrimination people of faith face.
According to the Christian Post, some of the most extreme forms of oppression were experienced by people in Iraq and Syria, including Christians and Yazidis, who have been targeted in an ongoing genocide campaign by ISIS.
The report revealed that 196 countries were examined, with 38 showing “unmistakable evidence” of significant religious freedom violations. Twenty-three of those countries were placed in the top level “Persecution” category, while 15 others in the “Discrimination” group.
Religious freedom conditions “clearly worsened” in 14 countries, the report added, and only three — Bhutan, Egypt and Qatar — showed signs of improvement since the last study in 2014.
The seven nations where persecution was branded so extreme that “it could scarcely get any worse” include: Afghanistan, Iraq (northern), Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Syria.
Other watchdog groups, such as Open Doors USA, have called on the global Church to resist being too self-centered, and instead reach out to help its brothers and sisters in need.
Open Doors President David Curry told The Christian Post in October that the factors that led to 2015 being the worst year for Christian persecution have stayed in place for 2016 as well.
