Pakistanske kristne befinner seg utenfor en vandalisert kirke i nærheten av Lahore den 11. mai 2020. Foto: K.M. Chaudhry / AP / NTB.

Mer enn 340 millioner kristne i verden er gjenstand for sterk diskriminering og forfølgelse på grunn av sin tro, går det frem av den siste årsrapporten fra Open Doors.

Det tilsvarende antallet for ett år siden var 260 millioner.

I henhold til den siste årsrapporten ble 60 prosent flere drept på grunn av sin kristne tro i 2020 enn i 2019, skriver The Guardian.

More than nine out of 10 of the global total of 4,761 deaths were in Africa.

Ca. 3800 av disse ble drept i Nigeria.

“The increasing persecution of Christians across the world should disturb us all,” said David Landrum, the head of advocacy for Open Doors UK and Ireland. “Freedom of religion is what underpins many other human rights and civil liberties. Oppressive governments know this, and they are exploiting the pandemic crisis to turn the screw on Christians.”

Open Doors’ liste over de 50 verste landene i verden for kristne toppes som vanlig av Nord-Korea. På de neste plassene kommer Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Eritrea, Jemen, Iran, Nigeria, India, Irak, Syria, Sudan, Saudi-Arabia, Maldivene, Egypt og Kina.

Listen domineres altså av muslimske land.

The report says Christians in numerous countries in Africa and Asia have been refused Covid-related aid – at times by government officials, but more often by village heads or committees. In Kaduna, Nigeria, families from several villages reported receiving one-sixth of the rations allocated to Muslim families.

In China, the government has increased surveillance, with facial recognition systems installed in state-approved churches in some areas and online services monitored. The government’s campaign to “sinicise” Christianity has meant crosses and other Christian imagery have been replaced with pictures of President Xi Jinping and national flags, and Communist officials selecting church leaders, the report says.

Open Doors har offentliggjort slike lister årlig siden 2002, opplyser The Guardian.

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