Global: Islamic extremism primary driver of persecution

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Some of the most urgent headlines of the past 12 months, from the global spread of jihadist violence to North Korea’s test of a putative atomic weapon, intersect with an updated list of the most difficult places to live as a Christian. For the 14th straight year, North Korea leads the 2016 Open Doors World Watch List, released 13 Jan. 2016.

Throughout the 49 other countries on the list, the dominant and growing source of pressure on Christians is Islamic extremism. It is the primary driver of persecution in the rest of the top 10 countries on the list, and in 36 of the entire list of 50 countries. Many of those countries share a common denominator: the self-proclaimed Islamic State.

“Islamic State and its affiliates took their barbarity across borders like never before: into Libya, Kenya, and Egypt, culminating in random massacres in Paris on 13 November and in San Bernardino in the US on 2 December 2015,” wrote Open Doors Director of Strategic Trends Ron Boyd-MacMillan in an analysis accompanying the World Watch List. “There is a feeling globally that no one is safe from the reach of these newer jihadists, who can recruit, convert and train anyone through the internet.”

'Islamists in Niger destroyed almost all of its 70 churches.'

Niger returned to the list, at No. 49. Early in 2015, following the IS-inspired attacks in Paris against the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the former French colony suffered attacks by Islamists who destroyed almost all its 70 churches and killed 10 people. Plus, sharing a long border with Nigeria has meant an occasional overspill of violence from the Boko Haram jihadist insurgency.

In the 12 months ending 31 Oct. 2015 - the period measured by the current Open Doors World Watch List - Islamic State spread its influence in places it does not appear to have a presence. Sympathizers in countries such as Nigeria and Libya have aligned themselves to IS after carrying out atrocities among their own minority Christian populations.

Open Doors also said that the government of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq “is ordering land to be sold to Muslim families in several predominantly Christian areas and towns.” The region has been a comparative safe haven for thousands of Christian refugees fleeing IS from Mosul and the Nineveh Plain.