North Korea is back on top of The World Watch list, produced annually by Open Doors, as the worst place in the world to live as a Christian. “North Korea’s score of 98, the highest score that’s ever been recorded for any country on the list, [and] reflects an increase in arrests of Christians and house churches discovered and closed,” Open Doors reports.
North Korea is followed by a series of North African and Middle Eastern countries with Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, and Libya rounding out the top five. They are followed by Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan (last year’s top of the list) and Sudan.
However, the spread of Chinese-style surveillance is the second greatest worry for open doors. “In China, the use of digital surveillance technology is spreading, adding to persecution and intimidation. Armed with sweeping new rules on church use of the internet, implemented in March 2022, authorities employed censorship, disinformation, and unblinking surveillance to tighten their control of religious groups.
“China’s potent combination of authoritarianism, nationalism, and technology has spread to other countries, such as India, Turkey, and Russia. Those who don’t support the ruling party can be branded as troublemakers, disturbers of the peace, or even terrorists. They often face false accusations and charges.
“As China forges an international alliance to redefine human rights, countries as diverse as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Malaysia have headed down this same authoritarian path, joining such Central Asian states as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.”
Australia’s neighbour Indonesia is ranked number 33, and Malaysia is at 43.
The world watch list is based on measuring violence against Christians and social pressure from the community, state, and family. On the Open doors website, the details of the difficulties faced by Christians in each country can be found on a clickable map. opendoors.org.au