Aid organization releases list of nations with worst record of Christian persecution

A charity organization has released a new report listing seven nations where Christians and other religious minorities are facing intense persecution.

The 2016 "Religious Freedom in the World" report released by Aid to the Church in Need last Thursday revealed that religious intolerance has increased around the world, particularly between June 2014 and 2016, which coincides with the rise of ISIS, The Christian Post reported.

The report indicated that out of the 196 countries examined by the organization, 38 had committed violations of religious freedom. Twenty-three countries were grouped under the top-level "Persecution" category while 15 were under the "Discrimination" group.

It noted that non-state actors are responsible for the persecution in 12 out of the 23 worst-offending countries.

According to the study, the persecution in seven countries, namely, Afghanistan, Iraq (northern), Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Syria, was considered so extreme that "it could scarcely get any worse."

It revealed that state of religious freedom "clearly worsened" in 14 countries but there have been some improvements in Bhutan, Egypt and Qatar since the last study was conducted in 2014.

The study pointed out that Islamist extremism in countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Syria has been one of the main causes in the surge of refugees, which increased by 5.8 million in 2015, according to figures from the U.N.

It also noted that mainstream Islamic groups are making efforts to counter Islamic extremism by condemning the violence through public pronouncements and other initiatives.

"A virulent and extremist form of Islam emerged as the number one threat to religious freedom and was revealed as the primary cause of persecution in many of the worst cases," the report stated.

In the case study in Iraq, a Yazidi boy who was trained for jihad in Syria recounted the words told to him by his instructors: "You have to kill kuffars [unbelievers] even if they are your fathers and brothers, because they belong to the wrong religion and they don't worship God."

Open Doors USA, another watchdog organization, has its own list of countries where Christians are being persecuted for their faith.

Open Doors president David Curry has observed that many of the same factors that made 2015 the worst year for Christian persecution has remained in place this year.

"You still have rouge nations like Eritrea, North Korea, Sudan and others, who are not concerned about international justice laws, and are persecuting Christians within their government," he told The Christian Post in October.