Press Release
12 January 2012

NORTH KOREA HIGHLIGHTED AGAIN AS HARDEST PLACE FOR CHRISTIANS TO LIVE IN OPEN DOORS WORLD WATCH LIST

"Doors Open" for Kim Jong-un to Tackle Persecution says Open Doors CEO Eddie Lyle.

Only days after it was announced that Kim Jong-il, the reclusive leader of the world's most secretive nation, had died from a heart attack and will be replaced by his son Kim Jong-un, North Korea has again been highlighted as the most dangerous place on earth for Christians to live.

Nowhere in the world is Christian persecution so fierce. Christians have to hide their faith; Christian parents can't even share their beliefs with their children until they are old enough to understand the dangers. Owning a Bible could get you killed, or sent to a harsh labour camp. Christians are routinely arrested, some murdered and others sentenced to labour camps. But despite the risks, the church is growing and there are an estimated 400,000 believers.

Eddie Lyle, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, stated: "For many, persecution against Christians appears to be acceptable, but every year, thousands of believers lose their families, their livelihoods and even their lives. Kim Jong-un and his government stand at a crossroads but the door is open for them to turn their backs on years of self-imposed isolation and the politics of fear.

"The history of the last 50 years has proved that walls erected by man which oppress even the most basic of human rights will not survive. Christians around the world are praying for a new beginning for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."

Muslim-majority countries including Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Iran, represent nine of the top ten countries where persecution is most severe and where indigenous Christians have little freedom to worship. The reality for Christian believers from a Muslim background is that they must live as 'Secret Believers', hiding their faith from the government, their community and even their own families. While many thought the Arab Spring would increase their freedom to exist, to choose and to worship, this has so far not been the case. Many commentators now predict the Arab Spring will be a prelude to an 'Arab Winter', in which the oppression of Christian minorities will intensify.

In a number of countries persecution has increased significantly. In Sudan, where the creation of a new nation - South Sudan - left Christians of (North) Sudan isolated, President Omar al-Bashir has vowed to make the country more Islamic. In Nigeria Christians have frequently been the targets of murderous attacks by Islamist group, Boko Haram, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of Christians. In Egypt, a bomb attack on the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria on New Year's Day 2011 and the Maspero massacre in Cairo in October, where Coptics were peacefully protesting against church closures, resulted in the deaths of around 50 Christians.

Behind the figures a number of global trends are apparent:

• The rise of Islamic conservatism has resulted in an exodus of the Christian church in the Middle East. Christians in the Middle East number over 17 million, the majority of whom are Orthodox. The most spectacular exodus of Christians in recent times has occurred in Iraq. There are now barely 300,000 believers after dreadful persecution from Shia and Sunni militants, down from roughly one million in 1991. Steep declines are seen in other areas too. Less than a generation ago, Bethlehem was 85% Christian. Now, it is less than 15%. Jerusalem was 53% Christian in 1922, now the proportion is 2%.
  
  
• The rise of the Muslim-background believer movement has formed a new branch of the church, especially in Iran. Although reliable numbers are hard to come by, the last twenty years - and especially the past ten - have seen a hugely significant turning to Christ among Muslims. Satellite TV and the internet have been crucial catalysts, and MBBs now number around 360,000 of the total Christian population of 460,000 in Iran.
  
  
• The collapse of European Communism has led to the freeing of Eastern Europe's Christians. However, some Eastern European countries remain hazardous places in which to practise the Christian faith. In Belarus, for example, President Lukashenko remains a virtual despot in the time-honoured Communist fashion.
  
  
• The clash between African Christianity and Islamic extremism in the Sahel belt continues. Northern Nigeria is the persecution horror story of the early 21st century. Thousands of Christians have died there at the hands of Islamic extremists. Somalia is so lawless and extremist today that it is virtually impossible to be a Christian there and live.
  
  
• The events of 9/11 have provoked an aggressive secularist backlash against religion and the church, where governments are anti-religious in their approach and attempt to purge religion from public life.
  
  
• The explosive growth of Christianity experienced under Communism in China has resulted in the world's largest - and potentially most significant - persecuted church, which conservative estimates place at 80 million.

Despite these rising trends, the church of Jesus Christ is growing in many places. One pastor in a Gulf state confided, "When we suffer, we bring credibility to the gospel that cannot be ignored, because we show that Christ is worth it, and that is the secret of growth under persecution."