Open Doors Canada Releases 2020 World Watch List
A Less Tolerant, More Dangerous World for Christians
WATERLOO, ON – January 15, 2020 – It’s clear: in the past year, the world has become a less tolerant and less safe place for hundreds of millions of Christians around the world. That’s one of the findings of the latest World Watch List, Open Doors’ annual research into the 50 most dangerous nations to practice one’s faith as a Christian. The 2020 World Watch List (WWL) will be released at a live event in Toronto, January 16.
The World Watch List (WWL) ranks the difficulty faced by Christians in countries around the world, and is the only instrument that measures the persecution of Christians, annually. In the top 50 countries alone, a conservative estimate identifies that 260 million Christians face a level of persecution measured as extreme, very high or high. In total, one in eight Christians worldwide face persecution measured as extreme, very high or high– a six per cent increase from 2019. Across the top 50, pressure is rising. In 2020, 34 countries registered a “very high” level of persecution. Last year, the number was 29.
North Korea remains the most dangerous place for Christians, having been number one since the inception of the list in 2002. Something as simple as owning a Bible can mean a person is arrested and taken to one of the country’s infamous labour camps, never to return.
Eleven countries have been ranked as having an “extreme” level of persecution:
RANK COUNTRY PERSECUTION SCORE out of 100
1 North Korea 94
2
Afghanistan
93
3
Somalia
92
4
Libya
90
5
Pakistan
88
6
Eritrea
87
7
Sudan
85
8
Yemen
85
9
Iran
85
10
India
83
11
Syria
82
Open Doors Canada will be presenting the 2020 WWL at an event taking place on January 16 at 7 p.m., EST at The People’s Church in Toronto, ON. The event will discuss current persecution trends from Open Doors Canada’s Executive Director, Rev. Gary Stagg, and Pastor Samuel from India to discuss the situation for Christians within India.
For more information on the launch event in Toronto, click here.
For a full summary of the 2020 World Watch List, click here.
To download the 2020 World Watch List map, click here.
To download the International Institute for Religious Freedom’s audit statement, click here.
Interviews with Executive Director of Open Doors Canada, Rev. Gary Stagg, and Pastor Samuel, an Open Doors team member from India, are available.
To download Rev. Gary Staggs’s high-resolution headshot here.
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Open Doors Canada
Gary Stagg
About Open Doors CanadaOpen Doors Canada is affiliated with Open Doors International, a global ministry which has supported and strengthened persecuted Christians in over 60 countries for over 60 years. ODI raised approximately US $70 million last year to provide practical support to persecuted Christians such as food, medicines, trauma care, legal assistance, safe houses and schools, as well as spiritual support through Christian literature, training and resources. For more information visit www.opendoorsca.org.About Rev. Gary StaggFor more than thirty years, Gary has been involved in full-time ministry with an emphasis on the revitalization of Christian communities and the establishment of systems for assimilation and discipleship. Gary studied education and theology and has used that training to structure his passion for helping people stand firm in their faith and embrace a missional lifestyleAbout Pastor SamuelPastor Samuel is a Pastor from India and a partner of Open Doors Canada. He is strongly involved in reaching out to persecuted Christians all over India. Along with his team, they are able to provide urgent relief, shelter, books, persecution preparedness training, legal aid and vocational skills training to a very large number of persecuted Christians in India.NOTE TO EDITORS & MEDIA:For more information, or to speak to any of the interviewees below contact Mikayla Stroeder, mikayla@grafmartin.com or 519-342-3703 x105.A print copy of the World Watch List annual report can be requested.ABOUT THE LIST:The World Watch List is a ranking of the 50 countries where the persecution of Christians is most extreme. It is produced using detailed information from 150 countries. Data is gathered on five spheres of life – private, family, community, national and church life. A sixth block, ‘violence’, cuts across all five, and measures serious ‘violence’ (including deprivation of freedom) to people or property. Persecution in each country is recorded by Open Doors using a points system. Open Doors' research methods and results are independently audited by the International Institute for Religious Freedom. The 2020 World Watch List accounts for the 12 months ending 31 October 2019.Information on Open Doors: www.opendoorsca.orgSuggested Interview Questions:
Can you explain what the World Watch List is and what it shows us?
Why does Open Doors produce the World Watch List annually? How is the list produced?
You say it’s more dangerous to be a Christian around the world. How do you know that?
What is “persecution”?
What are some of the top findings from 2020’s list?
Why bother measuring levels of persecution or religious intolerance around the world?
What do the increases in difficulty indicate?
What’s something that most people don’t realize about persecution and the persecuted church?
You talk about our “brothers and sisters” rather than “the persecuted church.” Why?
How does Open Doors work alongside the persecuted church?
Additional World Watch List 2020 Findings:
In Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday, more than 250 people, 45 of which were children, were killed in attacks on three churches and hotels; more than 500 people were injured.
Bombs killed 20 at a Catholic church in Jolo in the southern Philippines.
In China, state-sanctioned and ‘underground’ churches have been harassed or shut down in at least 23 provinces. In Xinjiang, at least one state-sanctioned church is known to require congregants to queue for facial recognition checks.
As the pressure on Chinese Christians rose in all spheres of life, China has risen four places this year, from number 27 in WWL 2019 to 23. The Chinese government has placed regulations on religion countrywide, banning religion from the public sphere.
In the West African state of Burkina Faso, violent Islamic militants have killed church leaders, kidnapped families for ransom and burned down churches and schools.
In Egypt, seven Coptic Christians were killed when terrorists attached their bus as they visited a monetary. The attack was in the same place where 28 Copts were killed less than 18 months before, when masked gunmen opened fire on their vehicles.
In Iran, 194 Christians were arrested, 114 in one week just before Christmas 2019; several house churches were raided across nine cities.
The growth of digital persecution: China (23) has begun to utilise AI and biometric measurement to increase their surveillance and control of religious believers – as seen with their surveillance of Uighur Muslims. At least one major church now has facial recognition cameras to record worshippers’ presence. India (10) is also set to make use of these technologies.
Islamic extremism is fast growing in the sub-Saharan region of Africa. A multitude of radical Islamist jihadist groups are taking advantage of instability and poverty to set up home in states like Mali (position in WWL: 29), Niger (50) and Burkina Faso (28). In these weak and fragile states many Christian communities are left without protection by their governments.
Christianity continues to disappear from its place of birth, the Middle East, with fears expressed by senior Christian leaders that there may be no Christians left in the region in a few years’ time. There are signs that so-called Islamic State is regrouping. And with tensions high in the region, Iranian-backed Shiite militias continue to threaten, harass and intimidate Christians. And the Turkish incursion into north-eastern Syria (11) has directly affected 40,000 or more Christians in the region.
According to incidents recorded by Open Doors:
Every day, an average of eight Christians were killed for their faith and 23 Christians were raped or sexually harassed for faith-related reasons.
Every week, an average of 182 churches or Christian buildings were attacked, and 276 Christian homes burned or destroyed.
Every month, an average of 309 Christians were unjustly imprisoned for their faith.
In China, state-sanctioned and ‘underground’ churches have been harassed or shut down in at least 23 provinces. In Xinjiang, at least one state-sanctioned church is known to require congregants to queue for facial recognition checks.
As the pressure on Chinese Christians rose in all spheres of life, China has risen four places this year, from number 27 in WWL 2019 to 23. The Chinese government has placed regulations on religion countrywide, banning religion from the public sphere.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMedia Contact: Mikayla Stroeder; mikayla@grafmartin.com or 519-342-3703 x 105