Release International is warning that the flight of faith witnessed in 2015 is set to continue into 2016, as Christian refugees are driven out of their communities and countries because of their religious beliefs.
Release’s annual review of persecution trends finds two key contexts where persecution is set to increase: in the wake of Islamist terror groups, such as IS and Boko Haram, and under authoritarian governments, which regard Christians as a threat or even enemies of the state.
Terrorists have been targeting Christians in Syria, Iraq and Nigeria. And in East Africa, Islamist terrorists are set to continue their campaigns of violence in Kenya and Tanzania, attacking Christian leaders and churches.
The Syrian civil war has had a devastating impact on the church. More than half the nation’s Christian pre-war population of 1.4 million have fled.
In Iraq, the picture is similar. Iraq once had a million Christians. Today, half have been driven out.
Nigeria and Iran
In Nigeria, Islamist terrorists including Boko Haram have claimed more than 14,000 lives since 2013, driving some 60,000 from their homes. Boko Haram continues to abduct girls and women in the north, selling them into slavery, forcing them into ‘marriage’ with jihadists or turning them into fighters. Those who refuse to convert to Islam or kill others are themselves killed.
In Iran, radical Islam and authoritarianism combine. Observers say the Government stepped up its crackdown on Christians and activists in September 2015. That looks set to continue into 2016. Christians who meet to worship or share their faith are convicted on false political charges, such as ‘undermining national security’. Those who are released come under such strict surveillance that many have to leave the country. Yet the underground house church in Iran continues to grow.
Countries which practise shari’a law are often hostile to Christianity.
In Pakistan, Christians and others can easily fall foul of the country’s notorious blasphemy laws. These laws have become a charter for taking out opponents and eliminating rivals.
Eradication by legislation
Islamic and post-Communist governments in Central Asia are also detaining and imprisoning Christians and trying to eradicate the church by legislation. A common example is the requirement for churches to register, followed by the routine refusal of registration – effectively outlawing that church.
In 2015, Burma passed anti-conversion legislation and Nepal inserted an anti-conversion clause into its constitution.
In India, a growing number of states have now passed so-called ‘Freedom of Religion’ laws, which are actually intended to prevent conversion. The driving force behind this is militant Hinduism, which is trying to prevent a turning to Christianity among the Dalits (untouchables). Legal pressure to prevent the spread of Christianity has been building and looks like continuing in India and elsewhere in 2016.
Christians portrayed as enemies
Many authoritarian governments regard Christianity as a threat to the ruling party’s powerbase. They fear that Christians have split allegiances and may even be working for foreign powers to undermine the state. This trend of portraying Christians as enemies of state is set to continue across many parts of the Muslim world and in those countries under authoritarian rule.
‘The state is effectively challenging Christians as to whom they worship and whom they serve – who is the highest authority in their lives’, says Paul Robinson, the Chief Executive of Release International.
North Korea and China
In North Korea, a form of emperor worship is encouraged and Christians are jailed as political prisoners. The recent change of leadership has brought no respite in the way Christians are treated.
Suspicion and hostility towards independent-minded Christians is likely to continue in China in 2016, under the atheist Communist authorities.
China has rounded up and detained some of its key human rights lawyers, many of whom are Christians, treating them as political prisoners for questioning the way in which the law is being applied in their land.
In 2015, China stepped up a campaign in Wenzhou to demolish churches and tear down their crosses. Some lawyers who challenged this in the courts have been put under arrest.
Christians are also treated harshly in neighbouring Laos and Vietnam.
‘Let us pray for persecuted Christians, but let us also serve. Let us speak out and stand up for justice for the many caught up in the tidal wave of refugees, who have been persecuted simply for their faith. And may we rise to the challenge of reaching out to refugees of all faiths with the love of God’, says Paul Robinson.
