The cause of Christians striving to practise their faith without fear or pressure often advances and retreats in countries outside those where Christians directly live under the most oppression. In London, New York, Strasbourg, Washington, and other centres of deliberation, important developments happen concerning Christians and religious freedom more broadly. This is the page where we consolidate news with an international scope.
UK wants to build international coalition to address Christian persecution
The United Kingdom wants to build an international coalition of countries to address the persecution of Christians around the world, its Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said at the launch of an independent review of the issue today, 30 January, in London. Hunt announced the initiative of an independent review into […]
From China to sub-Saharan Africa, Christians experience high levels of persecution in 73 countries
In its latest annual survey of 150 countries monitoring how difficult it is to live as a Christian, out today, the overall trend in the 2019 World Watch List is that almost half (73) showed extreme, very high or high levels of persecution. A year earlier, it was 58 countries. […]
Gender-based violence used in persecution of global Christian community
In the five worst of the 2019 World Watch List’s 50 most difficult places to be a Christian (North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya and Pakistan), vulnerabilities which are linked to men and women’s social status create space for harsh religious persecution, report the List’s analysts at Open Doors International. […]
Key trends show in 2019 List of countries where it’s most difficult to live as a Christian
In its 2019 World Watch List, Open Doors International reports that 11 countries score highly enough to fit into the ‘extreme’ category for the level of persecution of Christians. It was the same last year, but five years ago, only North Korea was in that category. From roughly 2006, and accelerating from 2012, the NGO says the […]
IS ‘won’t escape justice’ after Trump signs genocide accountability act
US President Donald Trump has signed into law a bill that will help to ensure aid is provided to Islamic State’s victims in Iraq and Syria and to hold the perpetrators accountable, reports Associated Press (AP). “In recent years, IS has committed horrifying atrocities against religious and ethnic minorities in Syria […]
Pakistan joins US list of worst religious freedom violators
Pakistan is among the ten countries that appear on the US State Department’s latest list of Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) for religious-freedom violations, Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced in a press statement on Tuesday, 11 December. China, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and […]
UK parliamentary group calls out 27 countries for ‘significant’ religious freedom violations
A “Commentary on the Current State of Freedom of Religion or Belief” presented by a group of British parliamentarians today, 10 December, highlights 27 countries where people’s religious freedom has been denied and abused in the past year. The report, presented by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for International […]
70 years since universal declaration, human rights ‘ignored and abused all over the world’
Ahead of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Monday, 10 December, rights group ADF International has called for “recommitment” to the founding principles, which it says are being “consistently ignored and abused … all over the world”. Chief among those rights, ADF notes, is the […]
Prince Charles praises ‘extraordinary grace and forgiveness’ of Christians in Middle East
Britain’s Prince Charles paid tribute to Christians in the Middle East and their “extraordinary capacity for grace and forgiveness” at an event in London yesterday, 4 December. At a special service at Westminster Abbey, attended by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and representatives of Churches in the Middle East, the […]
Persecution of minority Christian women ‘hidden, complex, and interwoven with “everyday” discrimination’
Five new reports – about Egypt, Ethiopia, Iraq, Colombia and the Central African Republic – unmask the multiple domestic, societal and state dynamics used in the persecution of Christian women and girls in each country. When viewed individually, the tactics used against women – from subtle discrimination surrounding access to […]