Christianity may have become one of the world’s predominant religions, but there are still many places where Christians are persecuted, dispossessed, tortured and even killed for their faith. Often this occurs as part of governmental or religious policy. Western media frequently under-report these incidents, fearing to offend cultural sensibilities. As a result, much of this news must be culled from secular human rights publications and religious watchdog groups. Submitted for your approval are the Top 10 Most Dangerous Countries for Christians, as ranked by the Open Doors World Watch List (October 2011).
1. North Korea
Population: 24,4 million; 400,000 Christians
Main Religion: Atheism
Government: Dynastic Communist Dictatorship
Still the most hostile country in which to live and practice the Christian faith, there are reports of many Christians arrested, with at least 25 percent of Christians believed to be languishing in labor camps for their refusal to worship founder Kim Il-Sung’s cult. Half the population lives in the north, close to China, where family-based networks of house churches exist in significant numbers. Roughly ten million inhabitants are malnourished, with thousands eating only grass and bark.
2. Afghanistan
Population: 35,3 million; few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
All Afghan Christians come from a Muslim background. Believers who are discovered face discrimination from family and community, Muslim clergy and local authorities. The government treats converts in a hostile manner, using any means possible to make them recant. The tiny Christian minority cannot meet in public; meetings in private homes are possible, but require great caution. Not a single official church building remains, not even for expatriate believers. In February, an Afghan Christian was released after spending nearly nine months in prison on charges of apostasy.
3. Saudi Arabia
Population: 28 million; about 1 million Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Monarchy
There is no freedom of religion here. The legal system is based on Islamic law and conversion to another religion is punishable by death if the accused does not recant. Non-Muslim public worship is prohibited, and although the government recognizes the right of non-Muslims to worship privately, the religious police often do not. Worshippers risk imprisonment, deportation and torture. Most Christians are poorly paid foreign workers who are vulnerable to violence because of their faith. Two Indian believers were imprisoned in January 2011 for ‘converting Muslims to Christianity’.
4. Somalia
Population: 9.5 million; about 1000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Charitably described as ‘Transitional’
No one is expected to be a Christian in Somalia, so there is no organized church. Muslim converts exist as individual secret believers, and can only know a few others to make a small underground group. The largest known group is composed of five believers. For parents, it is dangerous to raise their children as Christians for fear of being discovered and executed. In September 2011, Islamic militants from al-Shabaab beheaded a 17-year-old Somali Christian near Mogadishu.
5. Iran
Population: 74.8 million; 450,000 Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Islamic Republic
Ethnic Persians are by definition Muslim, so ethnic Christian converts are considered apostates. Almost all Christian activity is illegal – from evangelism to Bible training to publishing Christian books. Many church services are monitored by the secret police. The governor of Tehran has criticized Christian evangelicalism as a ‘corrupt and deviant movement’ and ‘a cultural invasion of the enemy’. More than 200 Christians were arrested in 2011.
6. Maldives
Population: 320,000; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Every citizen has to be Muslim on these remote islands. The Maldivian government views itself as the protector and defender of Islam and enjoys full support by its citizens. Churches are forbidden, evangelism is banned and the import of Christian literature is prohibited. Believers hide their faith from their families and, when discovered, are pressured to convert to Islam. In October, a foreign Christian teacher was imprisoned for 15 days and then deported after police found a Bible in his house.
7. Uzbekistan
Population: 29.3 million; about 5 % of the population are Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
The strict monitoring of all Christian activities has intensified, even in the Orthodox Church. Outreach, training and youth activities are forbidden in unregistered churches – and in the last ten years only one new church was granted registration. Private Bible study meetings are always in danger of being closed down. Churches are raided and literature and other materials confiscated. Printing or importing Christian literature is prohibited. Christians are fined or given short-term prison sentences. When brought to court, fair treatment is not ensured.
8. Yemen
Population: 24.8 million; very few Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Republic
Islam is the state religion and source of legislation. The few hundred Christians from a Muslim background meet secretly as they face persecution from authorities, family and extremist Islamic groups. In the north, no church buildings are allowed. There is some religious freedom for foreigners, but evangelism is prohibited. There are four official churches in Aden for the several thousands of Christian expats and refugees living in the country, but large numbers have left as a result of the Arab Spring riots.
9. Iraq
Population: 32.9 million; about 5 % of the population are Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Parliamentary democracy
The Christians of Iraq form one of the oldest Christian communities of the Middle East. The vast majority are Aramaic-speaking ethnic Assyrians with much smaller numbers of Armenians, Arabs, and Turcoman. In Iraq, Christians numbered about 5% of the population of the country. They numbered over 1.4 million in 1987 or 8% of the population.
Sectarian violence caused tens of thousands of Christians to leave the country in 2011. Christians feel that the government fails to protect them, with individuals being threatened, robbed, raped or kidnapped and churches being bombed. Iraq’s constitution says each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief, but there is no article on changing one’s religion and Islamic law forbids conversion of Muslims to other religions. In August, at least four churches were targeted by bomb attacks in Kirkuk. The situation in Kurdistan, for a long time considered a safe haven for Christians, has deteriorated due to Islamic extremism.
10. Pakistan
Population: 176,7 million; about 1.6 % of the population are Christians
Main Religion: Islam
Government: Federal Parliamentary republic
Pakistan is the second most populous Muslim-majority country and has the second largest Shi’a population in the world. About 97% of Pakistanis are Muslim.
Christians are a beleaguered minority caught between Islamic militant organizations that routinely target them for violence and an Islamic culture that discriminates against them. Death threats are routine for church leaders, beatings are common, and damage to church property occurs on a monthly basis. Christians cannot rely on government or the military to protect them. The killing in March 2011 of Christian Cabinet Minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, was ‘one of the most demoralizing acts for us of recent years’, according to a church leader in Karachi.
(Open Doors and other sources)
