The World Watch List 2024, compiled by the charity Open Doors, rates the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. The chief executive of Open Doors, Henrietta Blyth, said that Christian minorities in East and West Africa faced an existential threat from jihadists and autocratic regimes. Attacks by militants on Christian communities have worsened in the middle belt of the country, where extremists exploit existing tensions between Fulani herdsmen and Christian farming communities. The murder of Christians in Nigeria accounts for 82 per cent of all Christians killed for their faith worldwide: 4118 were recorded, although that is likely to be an underestimate, Open Doors suggests. In Pakistan, ranked seventh, persecution of Christians is said to be constant: 21 churches were burned or damaged in August last year, and hundreds of Christians had to flee, Open Doors reports.

Source: The Times January 17, 2024 11:24 UTC