The non-denominational Christian relief organization “Open Doors” pointed to an increase in persecution in Africa and the Arab world.
According to the German daily newspaper, Bild, the US-based relief organization placed North Korea at the top of its index, followed by Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Moldavia, Mali, Iran, Yemen, Eritrea as the top ten countries where Christian suffer “extreme persecution”. According to the report on persecution around the world, Egypt is on place 25 among countries where Christians face “severe persecution”, dropping, thus, down to place 15 in 2011. According to the analyses conducted by “Open Doors”, Islamist extremism is the main monitor behind persecution; Sudan is indexed on place 11, and Tunisia on place 30.
Further, the organization confirms that Syria , after being on place 36 of countries where Christians are “moderately persecuted, jumped up to place 11 as Christians became the target of Islamists allegedly accusing the Syrian Christians of being supportive of Assad’s regime. The group said worst countries for Christians to live, with the exception of 46th-placed Colombia, were in Africa, the Middle East or Asia.
In the same article, the French Le Figaro newspaper reports on Egyptian Christians seeking asylum in the USA of fear of an Islamist-ruled country. The number of Christians migrating to the USA since 2011 is close to 100 thousand. [Author not mentioned, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Jan. 10, p. 9] Read original text in Arabic
