One in every seven Christians in the world faces high levels of persecution for their faith and two out of every five Christians in Asia are persecuted, says a report from US-based Christian rights group, Open Doors.
The attacks on Christians are becoming “dangerously violent” with churches, and Ch-ristian institutions targeted while Christians face digital surveillance and tens of thousands are displaced across the globe, says Open Doors’ World Watch List released on Jan. 17.
The report lists the top 50 nations where Christians face severe forms of persecution. It listed North Korea as the “most dangerous place in the world for Christians.”
“Being discovered as a follower of Jesus is effectively a death sentence” in North Korea, Open Doors said.
North Korea strengthened its border with China making it hard for Christians to flee the nation and for external support to reach them.
The North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un has put maximum pressure “in all spheres of life for Christians,” the report said.
The report pointed out that 4,998 Christians were murdered, 14,766 churches and Christian properties were attacked, and 295,120 Chri-stians were displaced in 2023 across the countries that it analyzed.
The report said Yemen (rank 4), Pakistan (7), Iran (9), Afghanistan (10), India (11), Syria (12), Saudi Arabia (13) and China (19) are among the top Asian countries for Christian persecution.
The report particularly highlighted the plight of Christians in India’s Manipur state that saw ethnic violence and extensive deaths over giving scheduled tribe status to the local Meitei ethnic community.
Violence erupted on May 3, 2023, after the All-Tribal Students Union of Manipur was publicly protesting the decision by the Manipur High Court to consider giving scheduled tribe status to the Hindu-majority Meitei commu-nity. Around 70,000 ethnic Kuki Christians and Meitei Christians have been forcibly displaced, are living in terrible conditions, and are afraid to return home, the report said.