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(Worthy News) – The persecution of Christians worldwide is intensifying, a new report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) shows. Based in Germany, ACN issues a bi-yearly report titled “The Persecuted and Forgotten?” on the conditions facing Christians in 18 countries where believers in Jesus are understood to be particularly vulnerable.
In its The Persecuted and Forgotten? report 2022-2024 ACN asserts as a key finding that “the epicentre of militant Islamist violence” has now moved from the Middle East to Africa. “In parts of Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mozambique and elsewhere, Christians were terrorised by extreme violence,” ACN says in its report. “In Burkina Faso, more than two million people – about 10 percent of the country’s population – have been displaced because of the ongoing Islamist insurgency.”
Noting the roles of authoritarian regimes in the persecution of Christians, ACN states that in the last two years, the governments of China, Eritrea, India, and Iran, have “ramped up repressive measures.” In particular, ACN says: “State and non-state actors increasingly weaponised existing and new legislation, criminalising acts deemed disrespectful to the state religion as a means of oppressing Christians and other minority religious groups.”
“In China, it is estimated that people imprisoned by the Chinese Communist Party ranges from the low thousands to over 10,000, ACN says. “In Eritrea, as of June 2024, around 400 Christians are imprisoned – without trial – just because of their faith,” ACN reports. “In India, 720 attacks or other incidents of persecution against Christians were reported in 2023, up from 599 the year previous. Iran, cases of Christians detained in Iran rose from 59 in 2021 to 166 in 2023.”
“There were increased threats to Christian children especially girls, who suffered abduction, sexual violence, forced marriage and forced conversion,” ACN added.
Other countries highlighted in the report as violating Christians’ human rights include Syria, Myanmar, Iraq, Pakistan, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia.