A major new report on international Christian persecution omits the country of North Korea, it was noted in July.
The annual Pew Report uncovered a record increase in restrictions on religion imposed by many governments around the world. It also finds violence and harassment against religious groups are on the rise. Paul Robinson of Release International welcomed the report, but raised concerns that North Korea had been left out of the study.
Robinson said: ‘The sheer breadth of their investigation means it is behind the times. From our own findings, we would say that insufficient emphasis is placed on the growing restrictions in China and the severe persecution of Christians in North Korea.’
The Pew Report revealed that Christians face harassment in 143 countries. Robinson added: ‘The report reinforces the excellent new review of Christian persecution by the Bishop of Truro which has now been accepted by the government.’
The Bishop of Truro’s review for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office found that Christians were the most persecuted religious group in the world. In contrast, the annual Pew Report looked at restrictions on all religions.
It states: ‘Religious restrictions have been rising around the world for the past decade.’ 52 governments, including China, Indonesia and Russia, are now imposing high or very high levels of restrictions on religion.
The Pew Report states that, since 2015, Islam has been the most common state religion around the world. In the Middle East and North Africa, most governments favour Islam over other faiths.
It is here where growing numbers of countries are restricting religion. According to the Pew Report: ‘The number of countries [in the region] where people experience the highest level of hostility towards religion has risen by almost 50%.’
The survey of 198 countries also finds religious restrictions and violence are spreading to Europe. It cites a case in the United Kingdom in 2016, where a Sunni Muslim man killed an Ahmadi Muslim shopkeeper because ‘he had disrespected the Prophet Mohammed’.
Among the most populous countries in the world, Egypt, India, Russia, Pakistan and Indonesia have the highest restrictions on religion, according to the report.
