Map of the countries persecuting Christians the most. Doors open. “The hindsight we benefit from allows us to note the emergence of new forms of persecution and a continual increase in the power of these persecutions,” lamented Tuesday David Haemerlin, general director of the NGO Portes Ouvertes, during a conference of press presenting the Index of Persecuted Christians in the World, published each year by this international evangelical association which celebrates its 70th anniversary. According to the NGO, 380 million Christians – all faiths combined – were victims of “strong persecution or discrimination” last year, in 78 different countries, compared to 215 million in 60 countries ten years ago. Founded in 1955 by the Dutch evangelical missionary André van der Bijl to come to the aid of Christians in the Soviet Union, Open Doors aims to alert the international community to this situation, by producing an “indicator, a “snapshot” of freedom religion and human rights in the world. North Korea in the lead The association, which does not measure the persecution suffered by followers of other religions, says it builds its index by cross-referencing questionnaires sent to local populations, field surveys by its members or partners and analyzes of experts based on criteria such as physical violence suffered by Christians in the name of their faith (murders, rapes, kidnappings, beatings, attacks on churches, etc.), but also different types of discrimination (at employment, to education, access to healthcare) or prohibitions (on conversion, mixed marriage, etc.). You have 74.17% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
