Open Doors is an international organization with mission of supporting and strengthening persecuted Christians worldwide.
They release annually their World Watch List, a ranking of the top 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.
This year’s release covers a period of October 1st of 2020 to September 30th of 2021, and shows persecution is on the rise worldwide exacerbated by the pandemic especially in Asian and African countries.
Their release, independently verified by the International Institute for Religious Freedom, showed over 360 million people suffered high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith in their countries.
That is 1 out of 7 people globally.
Since 2020, 5,898 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons – up nearly 25%, and 5,110 churches were attacked or closed for the same reasons – up nearly 14%.
Furthermore, 6,175 were Christians arrested without trial – up nearly 43%, and 3,829 kidnapped up a staggering 124%
Christians experienced the greatest persecution in Afghanistan, North Korea, Somalia, Libia, and Yemen.
