More than 360 million Christians worldwide faced persecution and discrimination in 2024, according to the latest World Watch List report from Open Doors. The findings highlight an intensifying crisis of religious freedom across multiple continents.
The report defines persecution as “any hostile action toward a person or community motivated by their identification with the person of Jesus Christ.” It takes into consideration insults, abuse and workplace discrimination. It also distinguishes “smashes” — cases of physical violence, bombings, shootings and sexual violence — from “squeezes,” which are policies and laws forcing Christians into isolation and underground practices.
Several countries have pushed more Christians to worship underground, including Afghanistan, ranked 10th, and China, ranked 15th. Recent investigations found that more Christians in China feared online and real-life surveillance than in previous years. The report also mentions cases of churches facing ideological pressures and new laws enrolling pastors into indoctrination sessions.
In Eritrea, Christians were arrested in house-to-house raids. Only certain denominations are allowed, excluding evangelicals and Christians from a Muslim background.
Algeria, which is ranked 19th, has forced its Protestant churches to close or operate secretly. This caused its score to decrease by two points, because it lowered the number of persecuted churches to observe. The report also notes that the number of Christians awaiting trials and sentencing for faith-related allegations in Algeria is at an all-time high.
The persecution score of Kyrgyzstan increased by seven points, pushing its rank on the list to 47th, the most dramatic increase of all countries. The government there has taken an authoritarian turn and used laws against public criticism to target Christian minorities.
In Kazakhstan, which is ranked 38th and gained three points on its persecution score, churches have been attacked by police and security services, and Christian women have been forced to marry Muslim men.
The report reiterates that Islamic terrorism remains the main threat to Christian communities worldwide. In sub-Saharan countries, jihadist militants have benefited from unstable governments to seize control of specific areas. All 15 countries of the sub-Saharan region were among the top 50 list, and 13 had “extremely high” persecution scores.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war, Christian communities in Gaza are on the brink of extinction, with nearly all of their houses destroyed. Christians in the West Bank, who represent about 1 percent of the population, also have been affected by stricter travel limitations imposed by the Israeli government.
–Alan Goforth