Commentaries On Spirituality

Nigerian government convicts around 400 on terrorism charges

2026-04-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

A federal high court in Abuja, Nigeria, has convicted 386 individuals on terrorism charges in one of the largest mass convictions in recent times. Those convicted were linked to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) or to Boko Haram, a deadly terrorist group founded in northern Nigeria.

The convictions come as the Nigerian government faces significant pressure from the United States to curb terrorism within its borders and to more effectively protect vulnerable Christian communities caught up in the violence perpetrated by these Islamist terrorist organizations.

Reports indicate that those convicted received sentences ranging from five years to life in prison. Authorities originally charged 508 individuals. Two were acquitted, eight were discharged, and 112 cases were adjourned, according to officials cited by the BBC.

While the Nigerian government denies that religious-based violence occurs in the country, many analysts and civil society organizations have long reported targeted attacks on Christian places of worship, communities, and religious leaders in the middle and northern regions, where ISWAP and Boko Haram carry out the majority of their attacks.

Many innocent Muslims have also lost their lives or property to these groups. Still, the radical religious extremism driving ISWAP and Boko Haram has resulted in particularly severe violence against Christians.

In 2025, the United States added Nigeria back to its Countries of Particular Concern (CPC) list, which designates countries with particularly egregious patterns of severe religious freedom violations.

A History of Violence

Nigeria has faced significant internal violence for years, largely at the hands of terrorist groups and militant Fulani herdsmen. Tens of thousands have been killed or abducted by these groups, and hundreds of thousands have been internally displaced.

The most prominent of these militant groups is Boko Haram, which was founded as an Islamic school in 2002. From there, the group quickly developed an agenda of radical Islamism and, in 2009, launched a campaign of violence that continues to this day.

While the group has splintered and changed leadership several times since its founding — today calling itself Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) — it has maintained its violent tendencies and a “priority scale” of targets, with Christians at the top, followed by the government and Muslims who have not joined the group.

In addition to organized terrorist groups like Boko Haram, many communities have become radicalized over time and collectively contribute to the country’s overall death toll. Often triggered by issues such as conflicts over limited grazing land or water resources, these disputes can quickly take on a religious dimension, leading to violence against religious leaders, houses of worship, and entire communities known for their religious affiliation.

According to one analyst of local militancy in Nigeria, ISWAP is funding Fulani militants in their attacks on Christian farmers — an ongoing conflict that ISWAP views as “another opportunity to target Christians, whom they see as a key obstacle to establishing an Islamic State in West Africa.” This involvement further underscores the religious undertones of even local conflicts and highlights the need to address religious persecution at every level of violence in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the government — under Christian president Goodluck Jonathan, Muslim president Muhammadu Buhari, and now Bola Tinubu — has long failed to provide an effective response to the violence or adequate protection for vulnerable communities regularly targeted for their religion, such as those in southern Kaduna state, where certain Christian communities have faced repeated attacks by Muslim extremists.

If Tinubu is serious about quelling the violence in Nigeria, one factor he must address is religion. Though not the only factor at play — lack of economic opportunity is another — it is a major one that he cannot afford to ignore.

Whether through programs to counter religious extremism or targeted efforts to provide security for vulnerable Christian communities in violence-torn areas, Tinubu can make significant strides toward peace only if he is willing to address the religious tensions at play in his country.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.

Since 1995, ICC has served the global persecuted church through a three-pronged approach of assistance, advocacy, and awareness. ICC exists to bandage the wounds of persecuted Christians and to build the church in the toughest parts of the world.

Muslims attack Christians in Nigeria on Easter Sunday

2026-04-06T20:09:00.368-07:00

Days after the Palm Sunday massacre in Jos left at least 30 Christians dead, coordinated Easter weekend attacks across central Nigeria claimed dozens more lives, with multiple communities in Benue, Kaduna, and Nasarawa states reporting killings, abductions, and extensive destruction during one of the most significant periods in the Christian calendar.

In Benue state, at least 17 Christians were reportedly killed in the Mbalom community, Gwer East Local Government Area, during an early morning incident on Easter Sunday.

Residents reported that unidentified gunmen entered the village before dawn, opened fire on civilians, and set homes on fire. Survivors fled into nearby bush areas, while local sources indicated that additional bodies were being found in surrounding areas as search efforts continued.

Mbalom has previously experienced mass-casualty violence. In April 2018, 19 Catholic worshippers, including two priests, were killed in the same community during a church attack.

Elsewhere in Gwer East, violence was also reported in Ikpayongo, roughly 10 miles south of Makurdi, where a local youth volunteer commander was killed. Community members alleged that the attackers were guided by an individual previously known to residents.

In Kaduna, multiple attacks targeted Christian communities during Easter services. In Ariko, Kachia Local Government Area, armed individuals entered the community in the early hours of Sunday and opened fire on worshippers gathered for Easter. Witnesses said the attackers first struck a church belonging to the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA), then moved to a nearby Catholic church.

Local accounts said that at least 12 people were killed in Ariko. Residents reported that the attackers surrounded the community before shooting began, limiting escape routes. Several people were also abducted. Military personnel later arrived and reportedly secured the release of 31 captives.

In Kajuru Local Government Area, at least three Christians were killed in Maro Kasuwa during a separate early morning attack, with additional reports of kidnappings. Other villages in southern Kaduna were also affected, with combined casualty figures from the area reaching at least 15 worshippers killed during Easter services across multiple locations.

Security concerns extended into Kagarko Local Government Area, where residents reported sightings of armed groups in bush areas near Kuratam, raising fears of further attacks in surrounding villages.

In neighboring Nasarawa state, violence occurred in Udege precinct, where at least 10 people were killed and several homes destroyed across the villages of Gidan-Ogiri, Akyewa Baka, and Udege-Kasa.

Across the affected states, witnesses consistently described attackers arriving on motorcycles and on foot, often in large numbers and operating for extended periods before the arrival of security forces.

Authorities have not yet released the official death toll for the Easter attacks, and government responses were still pending at the time of reporting. Local leaders in affected communities have called for increased security presence and faster response times in rural areas.

Pattern of Easter-Period Violence

The 2026 Easter incidents are consistent with a pattern of violent occurrences during major Christian holidays in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern regions in the past five years.

2025 — Reports from Plateau and Benue states documented attacks on rural communities during Holy Week, including raids on villages and targeted killings of civilians.

2024 — Communities in Plateau state recorded deadly incidents around Easter, with gunmen attacking villages shortly after church gatherings.

2023 — Southern Kaduna experienced multiple coordinated assaults during the Easter period, resulting in deaths, injuries, and abductions.

2022 — Benue and Plateau states reported raids on farming communities during Holy Week, with homes burned and residents displaced.

2021 — Kaduna state saw attacks on villages during Easter weekend, including killings and kidnappings linked to armed groups operating in rural areas.

These incidents have frequently occurred in areas with limited security infrastructure, where response times are affected by distance and terrain. Many of the affected communities are far from military installations or major road networks.

The latest wave of violence comes amid ongoing concerns about security in Nigeria’s central region, where rural populations continue to face repeated attacks, particularly during periods of religious gathering.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.

Muslims kill over 30 people during Palm Sunday attacks

2026-03-30T19:13:00.000-07:00

Gunmen killed at least 30 people during a Palm Sunday attack in Ungwan Rukuba, a community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state, Nigeria.

The incident occurred during the evening, when armed men reportedly entered the community and opened fire on residents. Eyewitnesses described the attack as coordinated, with multiple casualties recorded and several homes affected.

Following the incident, the Plateau state government imposed a 48-hour curfew in parts of northern Jos to contain the situation. Despite the restriction, residents, including youth, were seen on the streets protesting the killings and blocking roads in some areas.

Separate reports from Angwa Rukuba Junction, Eto Baba, and nearby student residential communities indicate that at least 10 people were killed during gunfire earlier on Sunday. A humanitarian worker, Alex Barbir, stated in a video shared on social media that the victims were Christians attacked on Palm Sunday.

Residents gave differing accounts of the attackers. One witness described them as members of Boko Haram, while another alleged they were armed Fulani militia who arrived on motorcycles, fired sporadically, and retreated toward nearby mountainous areas. As of the time of reporting, security agencies had not issued an official statement confirming the identity of the attackers.

Local sources advised students living near the affected areas to remain indoors as tensions persisted.

Kaduna Attack

In a separate incident in Kaduna state, gunmen killed at least 13 people in an early morning attack on Kahir village in Kagarko Local Government Area on Sunday.

Local sources said the victims were attending a bachelor’s party when armed men opened fire. A resident, Habila Markus, reported that several of his family members were among those killed. Others sustained injuries and received medical treatment.

Authorities identified victims in the Kahir, Kadda, and Kukyer communities, with those killed ranging in age from 21 to 31 years, according to community records.

Pattern of Attacks During Holy Week

Data compiled from previous reports indicates that attacks have occurred in Plateau state during the Easter period in recent years.

In 2025, a report by International Christian Concern (ICC) documented the killing of at least 54 Christians in Zikke village near Jos following Palm Sunday celebrations, along with the destruction of more than 100 households.

In 2024, four people died in Njukkudel and Tangur in Bokkos Local Government Area on Easter Monday. Earlier incidents in 2021 and 2022 included attacks during Easter weekend that resulted in the destruction of homes and the displacement of residents.

In 2020, nine people, including children and a pregnant woman, were reported killed in Hura-Maiyanga in Bassa Local Government Area during Holy Week.

The 2026 incidents in Jos and Kagarko occurred during the same Palm Sunday period, adding to a series of reported attacks in Plateau state and surrounding areas during the Easter season in recent years.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.

Muslims kidnap over 150 people from 2 churches in Nigeria this past Sunday

2026-01-20T02:46:00.000-08:00

The government of Nigeria claims that Muslims are not attacking Christians, but Muslim bandits kidnapped 163 people from two churches two days ago. For US President Donald Trump, a broken clock is right twice a day. Here is the article from International Christian Concern (ICC).

Nigerian officials said that 163 worshippers were kidnapped on Sunday when heavily armed bandits raided at least two churches during services.

The abductions reportedly occurred in a rural Christian community in the Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna state in north-central Nigeria.

Sunday’s attack “was carried out by bandits who arrived in large numbers, while the worshippers were in the middle of the service,” Rev. Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for the country’s north, told media outlets on Monday. “172 people were initially abducted, but nine of them escaped immediately after the attack."

Local authorities were still investigating the incident and confirming the number of worshippers kidnapped. No group has claimed responsibility.

This is the latest in a series of highly publicized kidnappings. In November 2025, armed assailants raided the St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Pairi, Niger state. Some 303 children and 12 teachers were abducted in the raid, though the figure was later lowered. All the students either escaped, were rescued by security forces, or were released before Christmas. International Christian Concern (ICC) President Shawn Wright issued a call to action for U.S. and Nigerian leaders after the kidnapping.

“I am deeply troubled by the news of the abduction of more than 160 worshippers in Nigeria,” Wright said. “This is a cruel act against innocent people gathered to worship. I ask people around the world to join me in praying for the safe return of those taken, for comfort for their families, and for peace to replace this violence. We must stand together in compassion and hope.”

Criminal elements, bandits, and radical Islamic groups like Boko Haram often target Christian communities in rural areas that have scant security. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in Borno state, Nigeria.

“These frequent attacks on worshippers in their places of worship, irrespective of religion, represent the inability of this government to protect the constitutionally enshrined right to freedom of worship,” said Ini Ememobong, national publicity secretary at People’s Democratic Party Head Office, which has been critical of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC). “Nigerians must not live in fear when going to churches or mosques to worship. The entrenchment of such brazen criminality under this administration is totally unacceptable.”

The Trump administration named Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for not protecting Christians and ordered the bombing of Islamic State terrorists. Nigerian officials have not had an effective response to the violence or protected vulnerable communities, such as in southern Kaduna state, where Muslim extremists have attacked Christians.

“The protection of citizens is the government’s primary constitutional responsibility. Every Nigerian deserves to worship in safety,” Ememobong said. “The Tinubu administration must demonstrate that Nigerian lives matter through immediate action, not empty promises. The families of the 163 kidnap victims anxiously await their return.”

Boko Haram is one of several militant groups working in Nigeria with ties to radical Islam. The terrorist group has highly targeted Christians, but also the government, and Muslims who haven’t joined their cause. After Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015, part of the group splintered a year later into a separate terrorist group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Radical Fulani militants and herders also kill and target Christian farmers.

ICC has served persecuted Christians in Nigeria for decades and documented countless attacks through news articles and special reports. To help persecuted believers, ICC has launched aid projects, such as communal farms and Christian schools in Nigeria, and supported legislation on Capitol Hill that has pressured Nigerian officials. Nigeria has also been featured in ICC’s annual Global Persecution Index as one of the worst places to be a believer in Christ.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. To support ICC’s work around the world, please give to our Where Most Needed Fund.

Bring Back Our Girls Again!

2025-11-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

More than 300 students and staff were abducted from a Catholic School in the Northern Region of Nigeria on Friday. International Christian Concern (ICC) President Shawn Wright issued a statement (see bottom of this release), calling on government leaders to do more to protect vulnerable Christian communities.

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) raised its estimate on Saturday of those taken from St. Mary’s School in Niger state on Friday to 315, including 303 students and 12 teachers, from an earlier estimate of 227. It is one of the worst kidnappings in the nation’s history, which has unfortunately become a flashpoint for Christian persecution.

“Our hearts break, and we pray for the families affected by this latest tragedy,” Wright said. “The government of Nigeria must do more to protect Christian communities after years and years of ineffectiveness and empty promises. Yes, it’s a complex situation in Nigeria, but Christians have suffered from extremists’ attacks while government officials and much of the world have looked the other way.”

Officials in Nigeria said on Saturday that no group has claimed responsibility for the most recent attack, but Islamic extremists have long terrorized the country. The Associated Press noted that Friday’s St. Mary’s School kidnapping in Niger state’s remote community comes four days after 25 schoolkids were taken in neighboring Kebbi state.

The Trump Administration and members of the U.S. Congress have recently pressured the Nigerian government to do more to protect Christians. Estimates vary, but conservatively, more than 50,000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria during the past 20 years, with hundreds of thousands more displaced.

With CAN’s revised estimate of the number abducted, the recent school kidnapping was the nation’s worst since the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram seized 276 Chibok schoolgirls in 2014.

Boko Haram is one of several militant groups operating in Nigeria with ties to radical Islam. The terrorist group has highly targeted Christians, but also the government, and Muslims who haven’t joined their cause.

After Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015, part of the group splintered a year later into a separate terrorist group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Local extremists and radical Fulani militias have also attacked and displaced Christian farmers and communities.

The Trump Administration recently named Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for failing to protect Christians. Nigerian officials have not had an effective response to the violence or protected vulnerable communities, such as in southern Kaduna state, where Muslim extremists have attacked Christians.

ICC President Shawn Wright Issues Statement for Nigerian and U.S. Officials After Recent Kidnapping

“As President of the International Christian Concern (ICC), I am issuing a strong and urgent call to action in response to the horrific abduction of more than 300 students and 12 staff members this week from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State, Nigeria.

To the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:

Your people — the students, teachers, and families of St. Mary’s — are in grave danger. This brazen assault on the innocent highlights a systemic breakdown in basic protection of Christians and schoolchildren in Nigeria. You must act now:

Deploy specialized rescue forces immediately and recover the abducted Christians without delay. Every hour that passes compounds trauma and risk.
Ensure full accountability: Investigate and prosecute the perpetrators — those who stormed the school in the early morning hours — bringing them to justice in accordance with Nigerian law.
Strengthen protection for Christian institutions: Boarding schools, churches, and Christian communities cannot continue to operate under constant threat of violence and kidnapping. You must enact and enforce robust security protocols, including early warning systems, secure perimeters, and close coordination with local law enforcement.
Address underlying persecution: This attack is symptomatic of the wider climate of hostility faced by Christians in Nigeria. Government policy must explicitly recognize that Christians are a vulnerable group and guarantee equal protection under the law.
Communicate transparently with families and the public: Keep them informed of rescue efforts, security changes, and the government’s plan to prevent future tragedies. Silence or obfuscation only breeds fear, mistrust, and further victimization.

Inaction is not an option. The world is watching. Your citizens deserve better.

To the Government of the United States of America:

The kidnapping of 300+ Christian students in Nigeria is a glaring emblem of the intolerable persecution that Christians face around the world. The U.S. has a pivotal role to play — and I call on you to move with urgency and resolve:

Immediately enact progressive economic sanctions, leveraging the recent CPC (Country of Particular Concern) designation to hold accountable those Nigerian government officials, regional authorities, or entities who fail to protect religious minorities or are complicit in persecution.
Condition assistance on results: Future U.S. aid to Nigeria — whether military, security, or development — must be contingent upon tangible improvements in protecting Christians and religious minorities.
Support civil society & Christian organizations: Facilitate resources, intelligence sharing, and capacity-building for organizations protecting persecuted Christians in Nigeria.
Use diplomatic influence: Make clear publicly and privately that attacks on Christian children and schools will carry costs — for the perpetrators and for those who allow or enable them.

The values the United States claims to uphold demand more than words. In the face of abducted Christian children, your actions — or lack thereof — send a message. Let it not be one of paralysis but of protection, justice, and solidarity.

Final Word

When children are hauled from their dormitories, when Christian teachers are terrorized, when entire communities live in the shadow of fear — silence is complicity.

As ICC’s President, I stand with the kidnapped students of St. Mary’s and their families. I call on Nigeria’s government to act decisively and on the U.S. government to enforce the consequences of its own designations.

Let this be a turning point: Not merely another headline of horror, but the moment the international community said enough — and stood firmly for the vulnerable.

We will not forget. We will not relent. We will see justice done.”

Shawn Wright, ICC President

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org.

Elderly man released from prison in Indonesia

2025-07-18T00:20:00.000-07:00

Welp! I know to never go to Indonesia because they put people in jail for insulting Mohammed and Islam on social media. It's strange that millions of people in the world knowingly choose to follow the teachings of a man who purposely married a six-year-old when he was in his fifties. The article from ICC is below.

After serving more than four years behind bars, an elderly Christian man has been released from prison in Indonesia.

International Christian Concern (ICC) field staff have learned that Apollinaris Darmawan was freed from the Kebon Waru Prison in November 2024. His release comes about a year earlier than expected after he received “several remissions” to his original sentence. This is the second time Darmawan has been imprisoned for his faith.

Police arrested Darmawan in late 2020 after someone accused him of insulting the Prophet Muhammad and Islam on social media. The Bandung District Court sentenced Darmawan to a maximum of five years for blasphemy. The court also fined him nearly 800 million rupiahs (about $50,000) for “disseminating information aimed at causing hatred or dissension on individuals and certain groups of community based on ethnic groups, religions, races, and inter-groups.” 

In 2017, he was sentenced to four years in prison for insulting Islam. He was freed in March 2020 to help prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus.  

During his most recent imprisonment, Darmawan remained steadfast in his faith. Supported by dozens of letters from ICC’s Prison Letter Writing Campaign and several visits from ICC staff, he stayed spiritually and physically strong, walking nearly two miles inside the prison grounds daily, and relying on prayer to sustain him.

Despite the years he spent in prison, Darmawan, a former Muslim who converted to Catholicism, still fervently believes he was correct to challenge the teachings of Islam.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Suicide bomber attack at church in Syria

2025-06-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

A suicide bomber detonated himself during worship on Sunday inside Mar Elyas Greek Orthodox Church in the Dwelia neighborhood of Damascus, Syria.

The attack resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people, according to initial reports.

This marks the first known suicide bombing targeting a church in Syria. While no group has officially claimed responsibility, the Syrian Ministry of Interior stated that the attacker was believed to be a member of the Islamic State group.

The assailant reportedly opened fire on worshippers before detonating an explosive belt, causing mass casualties and chaos inside the sanctuary. Local social media sources reported that children were among the victims.

Father Youhanna Shehata, the parish priest of Mar Elyas, courageously assisted in carrying more than 20 bodies of the deceased following the blast. He estimated that 350 to 400 Christians were present in the church at the time of the attack.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Escalating persecution in Africa

2025-06-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

International Christian Concern (ICC) released a comprehensive report, “Troubling Trends: Escalating Persecution of Christians in Africa,” highlighting the alarming increase in violence and persecution against Christians across the continent. The report details a disturbing rise in targeted attacks, particularly in countries with large Christian populations, such as Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Kenya. It presents specific incidents from the first quarter of 2025, revealing a pattern of brutal killings, abductions, and displacement. Nigeria, in particular, continues to be identified as one of the most dangerous countries for Christians, with thousands murdered for their faith in recent years, and ongoing violence spreading from northern states into the Middle Belt and further south.

The report underscores the critical role of Islamic militant groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the DRC and al-Shabab in Kenya, in perpetrating these atrocities. In the DRC, where 95% of the population is Christian, the ADF has been responsible for widespread terror, leading to numerous deaths and mass displacement, especially in the eastern provinces like North Kivu. Similarly, in Kenya, despite a Christian majority, radical groups and complicit government officials contribute to the increased persecution, particularly in the northeast and coastal areas.

The report expresses concern over the international community’s insufficient focus on these escalating crises, with neither the U.S. Dept. of State nor the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) yet identifying DRC as a Country of Particular Concern. This designation would enable specific sanctions and policy actions.

ICC is calling for urgent international attention and action to address these escalating trends. The report highlights ongoing efforts in the U.S. Congress, such as H.Res. 220, which seeks to reinstate Nigeria’s classification as a Country of Particular Concern. ICC urges U.S. citizens to contact their representatives and advocate for its passage.

To read the full report, click here.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Iranian refugees receive a six-month extension in Panama

2025-06-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

Artemis Ghasemzadeh, a 27-year-old Iranian woman, and other Christian asylum seekers in Panama were given a six-month extension this week to find a new home.

Ghasemzadeh is in a Panama City hotel with two Christian families from Iran. They were first given 30 days to stay in Panama, then a two-month reprieve until June 7, and now a six-month extension to find a haven.

Ghasemzadeh’s journey began in late December 2024 when she and her older brother, Shahin, fled Iran and entered the United States illegally through Mexico. Refugees fleeing religious persecution have traditionally been granted asylum on American soil, but they faced more stringent border and refugee laws under the Trump administration.

The siblings were detained for five days in San Diego and then separated: Ghasemzadeh was flown to Panama with other refugees, and Shahin to a Houston detention facility where he still awaits his immigration hearing.

International Christian Concern (ICC), nonprofits, government agencies such as the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), and Christians globally have been following their case, praying and advocating for them since The New York Times broke their story in February.

The Iranian believers will face extreme persecution if returned to Iran. ICC sent an emergency petition on Ghasemzadeh’s behalf, signed by 1,302 people, to 10 refugee-friendly Western countries, including Germany, Spain, France, and Italy.

Their case also caught the attention of U.S. Rep. (D-Ariz) Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian American, who introduced the Artemis Act in Congress. The bill would stop the expedited removal of refugees fleeing countries known to persecute Christians and other religious minorities. Under the law, the refugees could claim asylum in a U.S. immigration court.

Armenian, Assyrian, and Catholic communities exist in Iran. Yet, like other Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and beyond, Iran has strict anti-conversion laws that are punishable by imprisonment or death. Ghasemzadeh and Christian converts worshipped as part of Iran's growing underground church community.

“In Iran, being a Christian when you’re born is OK,” Ghasemzadeh told ICC in a previous interview. “There are even beautiful churches. But if you’re a Muslim and you convert to Christianity, it’s a problem. The police want to catch you because it’s not good for [the country].”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Islamic extremism permeates throughout Nigeria's security forces

2025-06-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

It seems the frequency of jihadist attacks in Nigeria is matched only by the infrequency of successful prosecutions against the perpetrators. And even when these attacks take place near military bases, the response times are disturbingly slow.

Many Nigerian Christians feel this chronic cycle of violence and impunity is all by design, and that their country has people in high places who have a vested interest in letting the cycle continue.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, a criminologist who established the Nigerian human rights organization Intersociety, did not hesitate to place blame.

“The Nigerian security forces, especially the military and police crack squads (special operations units), are the greatest problem facing the country's Christians,” he said.

Umeagbalasi said that the last 10 years have seen a large rise in Islamic radicalization within Nigeria's military and “jihadists conscripted through the back door into the country's security forces.”

Other concerned Nigerians have spoken out about federal government efforts to “reintegrate” self-described “repentant” jihadists. There are concerns that these allegedly former jihadists are finding their way into the nation's security agencies.

Umeagbalasi said that such problems became widespread during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari, who held Nigeria's top office from May 29, 2015, to May 29, 2023.

Buhari, the son of a Fulani chieftain, is a retired army major general who also served as head of state in the mid-1980s when Nigeria was under a military dictatorship.

Umeagbalasi said that Buhari's recent presidential tenure saw increased Fulani jihadist access to state armories. He added that many attackers in Nigeria derive significant benefits from “international jihadist support funds.”

Since the 1980s, Fulanis who have obtained wealth in the cattle industry have been supplying their fellow tribesmen with numerous AK-47 assault rifles.

Nigerian civilians are technically permitted to own certain types of firearms, but the requirements are stringent and subject to the discretion of officials.

Umeagbalasi said the laws are “observed lopsidedly” in a way that discriminates against Christians and empowers their attackers. He added that the Nigerian military has raided Christian homes across much of the country and “seized most, if not all,” of their weapons, thereby depriving them of any real chance at self-defense.

Christians in Nigeria are almost always woefully outgunned by their attackers, wherever those attackers may come from.

Although “Boko Haram” is a name that tends to evoke more terror, Fulani jihadists are responsible for most of the current religious violence.

Umeagbalasi attributed at least 60% of the attacks on Nigerian Christians to either extremist Fulani herdsmen or jihadist Fulani bandits. He explained that Fulani jihadists will routinely decimate entire Christian communities and leave nearby Muslim communities unscathed.

He added that not even 1% of Fulani jihadists have been arrested. And far fewer have ever been convicted.

With virtually no deterrents, these jihadists partake in a buffet of criminality. They can loot and kidnap for profit. Or they can indulge themselves through sexual attacks. If feeling inclined to proselytize, they can undertake forcible conversions, beheading those who refuse.

Umeagbalasi would like to see the U.S. Department of State acknowledge Nigeria's ongoing lethal jihadist Fulani problem by designating both “Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen” and “Jihadist Fulani Bandits” as Entities of Particular Concern.

It's worth mentioning that Nigeria — home to the majority of Christians killed for their faith each year worldwide — has had a curious relationship with the U.S. State Department’s list of “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) for violating religious freedom.

Nigeria made the CPC list for the first time at the end of 2020. The following year, it was removed from the list — even though the situation there did not improve.

Those concerned with religious freedom in Nigeria were aghast when, in 2023, a State Department official said that, “after careful review, Nigeria would remain excluded from the list of religious freedom violators."

As of May 31, 2025, Nigeria has yet to reappear on the list, which was last updated at the end of 2023.

Meanwhile, some prominent Christians in Nigeria have spoken publicly about how the ongoing massacres are not just about killing Christians but also about forcing the surviving Christians to flee their land forever.

Wilfred Anagbe, the bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi in Nigeria's Middle Belt region, said, “The quest to Islamise the land is high on the agenda of some of the most powerful and influential Muslims in Nigeria.”

Many Nigerian Christians suspect that the goal is to bring radical Islam to as much of Nigeria as possible, eventually taking over the oil-rich southern region, which is predominantly Christian.

Recent years have even seen jihadists making headway in southern Nigeria. Regional authorities there have been rendered ineffective in addressing issues at the national level.

And so, Nigeria's Christians — who comprise almost half of the population — have a far more troubled situation than they do in most countries where Christians are only a tiny minority.

Umeagbalasi described it as “a sorry state of utter vulnerability.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Eyewitness account of Muslims killing his family members

2025-05-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

They say the world only burns when the fire reaches your doorstep. Otherwise, it is just another spectacle, far-off smoke, a sound you can sleep through. It is all right, they say, to watch the flames of violence swallow others, so long as they don’t swallow us. So long as the ash does not settle on our roofs. Some even say it is acceptable if it is our own doing the burning. Then, the silence is justified. The gain is holy.

But what happens when the flame forgets its lane?

It will. It always does.

My name is Uren. I am from Hurti, a small village in Daffo, Bokkos, Plateau state. I am in SS3 at the Government Secondary School in Manguna.

In Bokkos, we farm potatoes, maize, and whatever the land agrees to yield because that is what we know best. That is how we survive. Occasionally, we trade. But it is the land that feeds us.

During a recent weekend, my people, the Ron and Kulere, enjoyed our annual festival. People came from all over. Not because everything was alright, but because the festival gave us strength. It reminded us that we are still here. We are still alive. And even though we keep losing people to violence, we cannot stop living. Besides, we know everyone will die someday.

On Wednesday morning, before the sun rose, my mother reminded me that we needed to head to the farm early before the heat turned cruel and drained our energy. There is always work to be done on the farm; come rain, come sun, dry, or green. Life in our village follows that rhythm.

For some reason, that morning, I woke with the weight of Oswald Mtshali’s “Nightfall in Soweto” pressing heavily on my chest. Mr. Mallo, our literature teacher, painted it vividly when he taught the poem. “Feel it,” he said. “Poetry is meant to be felt.”

I felt it, alright. The fear. The dusk was falling like judgment. I felt it because it was no longer just poetry. It was no longer Soweto. It was Plateau. It was Bokkos. It was home. It was real.

My classmate told me that in their village, Josho, and even in Ganda and Manguna, they no longer sleep at night. The men and the boys had started spending the night in the trees, like hunted animals. They went up there not to fight. They went there to act as sirens. Human alarms.

When the raiders came, they were the voices screaming, “Run!”

And the raiders? They always came.

In our history class, Mrs. Mafwil told us that once upon a time, invaders galloped in on horses, with spears, bows, and arrows slicing through the air with ancient rage. Today, they arrive on iron horses, humming death and machines that spit fire and thunder.

They come knowing they will not be stopped.

They come knowing their mission has been carved into the silence of complicity.

They come. They slaughter. They leave. And they come again. Their faces are not hidden. Their names are whispered. Their language portrays who they are. Yet, somehow, they remain unknown.

That Wednesday, they walked into our morning as we worked on the farm. My mother, father, five siblings, and I cleared the land so we could plant soon. We were engrossed in tearing up weeds with calloused hands and brushing the earth off our feet when we heard the buzzing of motorbikes, many of them, and the cracking of gunfire all around.

It was loud and close — a rhythm now too familiar. First at night, now in broad daylight. A group of attackers was moving in on our village, and the nearby villages too.

We froze, not knowing what to do. Big black clouds of smoke began rising. Houses were burning. We saw people running, screaming. Although it wasn't near us yet, the land was flat; we could see everything. We were certain the attackers had seen us. One cannot hide easily out there. My mother’s face twisted.

“Home,” she whispered and broke into a run. But my father ran after her and held her back. She began to shiver. “My children, my children,” she said, as tears welled up in her eyes.

My two younger sisters were at home; one was sick, the other left to look after her. The ground where my mother stood turned wet. She had urinated on herself out of fear.

The sky was no longer blue. It had become a sheet of thick black smoke. In the distance, homes coughed fire, and people ran like ants from an overturned nest. Screams scattered in the wind. The attackers chased those who ran toward our farm. They were coming. We had been seen. The land offers no cover here. It is flat and wide. It betrays you.

My father’s mind raced faster than the bikes. He pointed to a narrow hole. The opening was wide enough for us to squeeze through, and we did. We did not ask what was inside. We did not think where it would lead. We just entered.

We smelled the damp scent of death all around us. We squeezed in, my siblings and I, while my parents and one of my brothers covered the hole with dry leaves and grass. They stayed outside. There was no room for all of us. From that tiny breath-hole, I watched.

The men on bikes came. Five of them. With their guns slung carelessly around them, they chose to use knives instead. Long, rusted, personal. They circled my parents and brother like wolves around tired prey. They chanted a “God is great” prayer to a God they no longer feared. And then, they cut wherever their razors could reach. Blood was everywhere.

My father begged, his voice cracking like old wood. My mother shrieked as they cut, and they cut again. They struck my brother down with the butt of a gun.

“Soon, you are all gone!” they shouted in Hausa with a Fulani accent. Then more chants of “God is great,” and more bikes revving into the distance. Their glee was carried by gunshots and war cries as they made their way to join the others. And then, there was silence, except for my mother’s sharp and soul-piercing wail. She crawled to my brother’s lifeless body and pulled it close.

My father just sat there, blood pooling around him. His eyes were vacant. He was staring like he could see a world we could not. I could not take it anymore. I blacked out. My young mind had given up.

When I finally came to, I learned my father had died. My two sisters, who were left at home, were slaughtered with knives. My mother was still in shock.

We saw the assailants and what they looked like. We heard the language they spoke and how they prayed to their god. We also know that their kind occupies many of the villages around that have been razed.

It is said that when people are pushed to a wall, they will push back, not out of bravery, but out of necessity. I fear what will happen now that we are near that point. Survival is not cowardice. It is instinct. But how long do you stay law-abiding while the law does not consider your blood worth avenging? How long do you bow to a system that rewards those who live outside it?

First, it was Jos, now christened the “Jos crisis,” then Riyom, Barkin Ladi, Bassa, Mangu, Wase, and Kanam. Everywhere in Plateau is getting a taste of the 21st-century jihad.

I hear that there are people who gain from the fire. People who watch it from high windows and sip their tea. People who call for peace but fund the bullets. And then, there are people like me, Uren, who only ever wanted to farm, to live, and to love my land.

The invaders have awakened something dangerous, not just pain, but memory.

And memory, when soaked in blood, never forgets.

International Christian Concern (ICC) continues to work in Nigeria, helping our brothers and sisters there overcome ongoing attacks from Islamic extremists. Join us in this work by making a donation today.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Muslim deliberately drives 18-wheeler into Easter Parade and kills 6 in Nigeria

2025-05-01T20:26:00.000-07:00

A government-appointed committee determined that the driver of an 18-wheel truck that plowed into an Easter parade on Sunday, April 21, in the town of Billiri, Gombe state, Nigeria, intentionally struck the Christians as they celebrated Christ’s resurrection.

The committee also found that of the 36 people involved in the attack, six died and 18 remain in critical condition. Those killed because of the crash include Grace David, Clement Lakason, Ephraim Ibrahim, Faida P. Uslas, Rejoice Mela, and Praise Ayuba.

“Our investigation revealed that the driver’s actions were deliberate,” said Rambi Ayala, committee chair and member of the Gombe State House of Assembly. “He rammed into the last batch of worshippers during their procession, causing multiple deaths and injuries.”

Competing Narratives

According to early police reports, the driver experienced a brake failure and couldn’t stop the vehicle before the fatal crash. Many local Christians, however, quickly claimed that the crash was intentional and the local government, which includes Muslim leadership, was acting in a discriminatory manner toward Christians.

“There are a lot of lies … surrounding the incident on Easter Monday ...” the Gombe South Emancipation Forum (GSEF), a group of local Christians and Christian leaders, said in a press release.

For nearly 30 years, Christians in Billiri have celebrated Easter with a procession of singing and dancing to commemorate Jesus's resurrection.

In its release, the GSEF added that it “interviewed several eyewitnesses, medical personnel, community leaders, security officers, and some of the victims themselves.” The organization explained that other vehicles had passed slowly through the crowd that morning, and the driver of the truck, who is believed to be Muslim, was warned to do the same.

“An 18-wheeler truck (trailer) came running towards the direction of the … group of … Christians who had now reached the ‘Tashan Gona’ junction,” the statement said. “Some individuals quickly waved to the driver and told him to slow down and to honk his horn when he gets close to the group so they can give him [a] way to pass. The driver slowed down as he listened to them. He was moving at around 10-15 kilometers per hour. But as soon as he saw the crowd ahead of him, he increased his speed and ran into the group from behind them without ever honking his horn. He mowed [down] several people, killing five, and injuring several others.”

Video of the crash shows the truck driving into the crowd, and no distinguishable sounds of a horn honking to warn the attendees can be heard.

Hannatu David Titu lost her daughter, 23-year-old Grace David, who was killed in the incident. Though Titu wasn't in attendance at the procession, she stated through tears that she believed the incident “was a deliberate attack.”

Additionally, Abishag Sambo, an attorney who helps Christians in Nigeria, told International Christian Concern (ICC) that, in her opinion, “there was no brake failure.” Sambo explained that she thinks it’s possible that local authorities were attempting to cover up an act of persecution.

“There is no neutrality in this situation,” Sambo stated. “We know how they operate. The system is wicked.”

Dr. Jeremiah Gado, former president (2012-2018) of the ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) and current board chair of the CSW Nigeria board of trustees, told ICC that his neighbors were killed in the incident. Gado was in Billiri at the time of the incident, but was not a part of the procession.

“Other vehicles came and passed by, but this vehicle came and just ran over the people in the procession,” Gado stated. “[The incident is] part of a deliberate persecution of Christians.”

A Neglected Health Care System

The investigative committee also called on government officials to upgrade the state’s emergency medical infrastructure. Some have claimed that victims of the crash likely could have been saved if a functional hospital existed in the area.

Gado told ICC the hospital in Gombe state is in "a deliberate act of neglect” because influential Muslims don’t want to provide adequate medical facilities for the local Christian population.

The alleged withholding of adequate services compounds the immense pain Nigerian Christians in Gombe and elsewhere have experienced in recent years as they’ve endured ongoing murder, rape, and kidnappings at the hands of Islamic extremist groups.

According to Genocide Watch, “since 2000, 62,000 Christians in Nigeria have been murdered in genocide perpetrated by Islamist jihadist groups including Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and Fulani militias.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Muslims increase terrorist attacks in Nigeria in 2025

2025-04-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

Since January, International Christian Concern (ICC) has documented a dramatic rise in attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. In just over three months, more than 300 Christians have been killed, dozens abducted, and thousands displaced in a wave of organized violence that has swept across Plateau, Benue, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Ebonyi states.

One of the most devastating attacks occurred on Palm Sunday, April 13, in Zike village, Plateau state, where at least 56 people, including 15 children, were killed and 103 homes were burned.

Days earlier, militants launched simultaneous attacks on 15 villages in Bokkos LGA, leaving 56 dead, 28 injured, and displacing more than 5,000 people. Another 72 people were killed in an attack that occurred around April 18 in Ukum and Logo LGAs, Benue state.

“These are not isolated incidents,” ICC’s Africa Regional Director said. “This is part of a sustained and growing pattern of religiously motivated violence, where Christian communities are deliberately targeted and devastated.”

Other notable incidents reported by ICC in 2025 include:

Clergy abductions and killings in Edo, Kaduna, and Plateau states

More than 230 homes burned or destroyed

At least 10 churches damaged or razed — many during Sunday services or overnight attacks

At least 15 farms destroyed or seized, threatening food security and livelihoods for displaced Christian families

The perpetrators are often identified as Islamic Fulani militants operating with impunity. ICC field partners report that many attacks are premeditated, targeting Christians during worship or in their homes at night.

Despite two decades of ongoing persecution, 2025 marks one of the most violent years in recent memory. Nigerian authorities have yet to deliver adequate protection or justice, and many survivors report being left without shelter, security, or basic support.

ICC continues to document these attacks, respond with emergency aid, and call for stronger international pressure to protect Nigeria’s Christian population.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

54 Christians killed during Palm Sunday service in Nigeria

2025-04-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Following Palm Sunday celebrations on April 13, Islamic Fulani extremists slaughtered at least 54 Christians in the village of Zikke near Jos, Plateau state. Local leaders are calling the attack “a targeted act of genocide against the Christian community.”

Eyewitnesses said the attack lasted more than an hour, leaving 103 households destroyed and the entire village displaced. Frustration mounted as residents reported a delayed military response and accused security forces of bias, disarming local Christian youth but not Fulani attackers.

The Rev. Hezekiah Mukan officiated the mass burial of 51 Christians on April 14. Mukan, also chair of the Christian Association of Nigeria, consoled locals reading from 1 Thessalonians 4:13, calling on everyone to remember their hope in Christ as they mourned the dead. The three other known victims received separate Christian burials.

Pastor Ishaku Mathew Kure, a local Baptist pastor, lost 10 members of his congregation and described seeing the attackers, some speaking both English and Fulani, using phrases like “Kill” and “Let’s go.” The pastor, who narrowly escaped with his family, called the violence “genocide” and questioned the government’s failure to disarm Fulani militias while locals remain defenseless.

Amnesty International condemned the massacre, which left elderly people and children butchered in their homes. “The inexcusable security lapses must be investigated,” Amnesty stated, adding that mere statements of condemnation are insufficient without justice and accountability.

From December 2023 to February 2024, more than 1,300 people were killed in Plateau state alone, including more than 500 women and 260 children. Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced. The frequency and pattern of the attacks have led to growing fears of an orchestrated campaign to forcibly displace Christian communities and seize their ancestral lands.

Eli Bako, a state lawmaker representing the affected area, called the attack “evil” and pleaded with the international community for urgent intervention. “One day, we will have no people left in our constituency,” he warned, criticizing the selective disarmament of vulnerable villagers.

Plateau State Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang condemned the attacks as “coordinated acts of terror” aimed at ethnic cleansing. In a state broadcast on April 14, he stated, “What we are witnessing is not mere herder-farmer clashes, but a calculated campaign of genocide.”

He pledged full support for the victims, announcing free medical treatment for the wounded, deployment of more troops, and provision of emergency relief supplies. The governor also met with top federal security officials, including Nigeria’s president and the chief of defense staff, to demand urgent intervention.

Despite these measures, confidence in Nigeria’s ability to protect its Christian communities continues to erode. As international organizations monitor the situation, urgent calls for justice, protection, and humanitarian aid are rising.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Christian missionary rescued in South Africa

2025-04-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

Following an intense gun battle, South African police have rescued U.S. missionary and pastor Josh Sullivan from his kidnappers.

His rescue comes less than a week after masked armed men took him hostage at gunpoint as he preached a sermon last Thursday at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province.

According to a statement from the South African Police Service, officers pursued the pastor after receiving intelligence on his whereabouts in another local township. Three suspects died in the ensuing shootout.

Sullivan, a 45-year-old church-planting missionary from Tennessee, was with the gunmen when the shootout began.

“The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack,” the police statement said. “Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition.”

According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last Thursday night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church.

Sullivan, a husband and father of six, has been a missionary in South Africa since 2018. Sullivan and his family are members of Fellowship Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in Maryville, Tennessee, where Sullivan has been on staff. His wife and children are among those who witnessed the kidnapping.

While some reports suggested the kidnapping may have been financially motivated, the attackers targeted the preacher and were well aware of his vocation. The gunmen reportedly knew Sullivan by name. The church also faced threats of being burned down at the end of 2024.

Sullivan and his wife planted Fellowship Baptist Church on Aug. 1, 2021, to provide a church for the Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Christian missionary abducted in South Africa

2025-04-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Josh Sullivan, a U.S. Baptist missionary, was kidnapped at gunpoint as he preached Thursday evening at Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, South Africa.

According to police, four masked gunmen entered the church late last night during a prayer meeting with about 30 attendees. The assailants robbed two cell phones before abducting the 45-year-old pastor and taking him in his own vehicle, a silver Toyota Fortuner. The car was later found abandoned about a mile from the church.

While some reports suggest the kidnapping may have been financially motivated, the attackers targeted the preacher and were well aware of his vocation. The gunmen reportedly knew Sullivan by name. The church also faced threats of being burned down at the end of 2024.

The South African Police Service’s Anti-Gang Unit is investigating the kidnapping. The U.S. Embassy in South Africa is also aware of the situation and is monitoring developments.

Sullivan and his wife planted Fellowship Baptist Church on Aug. 1, 2021, with the mission to provide a church for the Xhosa-speaking people of South Africa. According to a recent post on the Sullivans’ blog, only five churches that preach in the Xhosa language exist for the nearly 10 million Xhosa-speaking people in South Africa.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Myanmar military is bombing earthquake victims

2025-04-02T16:38:00.000-07:00

Multiple reports from around Myanmar indicate that the military junta ruling the country bombed civilians as they scrambled to recover from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck the country Friday.

Military planes bombed northern Shan state less than three hours after the earthquake, according to reports, with more strikes following soon after in Karen State, the quake’s epicenter Sagaing, and in areas close to the Thai border.

In contrast, the National Unity Government—which opposes the junta—announced that its militia forces would immediately begin a two-week pause in areas impacted by the earthquake to facilitate humanitarian activities.

The fact that the military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, would bomb civilians while they were working to rescue each other from the rubble of an earthquake, is “nothing short of incredible,” Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, told the BBC.

“Anyone who has influence on the [Tatmadaw],” he said, “needs to step up the pressure and make it very clear that this is not acceptable."

China and Russia, longtime allies of the Tatmadaw, have helped to provide emergency relief services in the wake of the earthquake but have not commented on the bombings. Despite sweeping international sanctions, both countries have supplied consistent military and economic support for the Tatmadaw.

The United States recently cut back on assistance and development aid to Myanmar as part of broader cuts to international aid. Reports indicate that it has not matched China and Russia’s emergency relief assistance since the earthquake. Last week, though, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report criticizing the country for its systematic repression of religious minorities and urged the international community to increase attention to the plight of the persecuted in Myanmar.

Ongoing Displacement and the Plight of Religious Minorities

“The country has seen the displacement of over 3.5 million people in recent years,” the USCIRF report noted, “including more than 90,000 in Christian-majority Chin State, 237,200 in Kachin State, and one million Muslim-majority Rohingya refugees” Last week’s earthquake, and the airstrikes that followed, have only increased these high levels of displacement.

Though a strong majority of the population is ethnic Burman and an even greater percentage is Buddhist, the communities that make up the remainder are well-established, well-organized, and, for the most part, predate the formation of the modern state by centuries.

In many cases, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have also taken on a distinct religious identity. About 20-30% of ethnic Karen are Christians, while other groups, such as the Chin, are over 90% Christian. This overlap of ethnic and religious identity has created a volatile situation for believers.

Historical Violence Against Ethnic and Religious Minorities

Representing an extremist interpretation of Buddhism, the Burmese military has a long history of violence against the people of Myanmar, including against ethnic and religious minorities like the Muslim-majority Rohingya and Christian-majority Chin.

The junta is known to abduct children, forcing them to walk ahead of their troops through minefields. In many cases, their victims are members of ethnic and religious minority communities fighting back against the atrocities of a military that has waged a decades-long war of ethnic and religious cleansing.

Despite this support, experts believe that the Burmese military is atrophying rapidly, with as few as 150,000 personnel remaining after the loss of about 21,000 through casualties or desertions since the 2021 coup. This number is significantly smaller than previous estimates of 300,000-400,000 and calls into question the junta’s ability to sustain its nationwide military campaign, especially after a series of high-profile losses in recent years.” 

How ICC Is Responding to the Crisis

Less than two weeks before the devastating earthquake, an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer visited the country to address conditions for local Christians and foreign workers amid the ongoing instability. While the findings painted a grim picture of widespread displacement, corruption, and strained infrastructure, what stood out was the resilience of the church and its believers, who remain steadfast in their faith despite the mounting challenges.

"I've contacted friends and local contacts to check on them since the earthquakes. They've talked about the huge devastation in Mandalay, with recovery efforts slowly working through the rubble and damage," said an ICC staffer in Southeast Asia. "The impact is huge across the country, too. Those I've contacted asked for continual prayers for local teams helping with recovery and for their country. Given their plight, one local pastor even selflessly asked if I had prayer requests myself. This shows the strong faith of the believers despite the obstacles. I've also contacted different Christian friends and contacts in Thailand to see how we can pray and help by God's grace."

ICC will continue to monitor the situation and explore ways to support recovery efforts.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Nigerian government delays release of illegally detained children

2025-03-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

As last Wednesday approached, Professor Solomon Tarfa eagerly anticipated the release of 16 children taken five years ago from Du Merci orphanage, which he and his wife run. Nigerian authorities have illegally detained the children since they were removed from the orphanage.

Despite a court settlement mandating the Kano State Ministry of Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs to release the children on March 19, Tarfa remains empty-handed following what seems to be another government stall tactic.

The Commissioner for Women, Children, and Disabled Affairs announced on March 20 that the children’s release will be postponed “until the Attorney General of Kano State returns from Mecca in two weeks.” Tarfa has been in a legal battle with government officials since the children were removed from the couple’s orphanage in December 2019.

This latest setback is one of many Tarfa has faced in his legal battle. It took a miracle for this agreement to have been made in court. A judge from the Kano State High Court 12 initially said he had “too many cases to deal with that are more important,” refusing to grant Tarfa and the children a trial. He urged the parties to settle outside of court, issuing a deadline of June 4, 2024, to “get back to him.”

Professor Tarfa and his wife, Mercy, founded Du Merci Orphanage in 1996. For more than two decades, the couple rescued abandoned children with the mission “to glorify God by ministering to orphans and vulnerable children by meeting their mental, physical, spiritual, and social needs.”

Nigerian officials raided the Christian orphanage on Christmas Day in 2019. Police officers and authorities from the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) confiscated 29 children — 13 were later returned — and moved them to government-run facilities. Professor Tarfa was detained and imprisoned on alleged charges of kidnapping and abduction.

While in government custody, authorities split the children up, including siblings, and forced them to recite Arabic, study Islam, and attend prayers in a mosque. Since the children had Christian names, authorities gave them Muslim names.

In June 2021, Tarfa went before the Kano High Court and was acquitted of his kidnapping and abduction charges. However, a day before the trial was set to end, the prosecution presented forgery charges in connection with Du Merci’s official registration document.

Although Tarfa received the registration document from the government, the prosecution accused his document of being fake as it did not have a proper serial number. Professor Tarfa was found guilty and remained in prison.

In April 2022, Tarfa appealed the forged document ruling, and almost a year later, the Court of Appeals acquitted Tarfa of all charges.

Today, Tarfa wants the Nigerian government to be held accountable and return the remaining children. He has asked Kano state to pay reparations for his illegal imprisonment, false accusations, and the illegal confiscation of his children.

The reparations would also cover the costs of rebuilding Du Merci Orphanage, which was demolished by the government. They also would cover the cost of rent for Professor Tarfa, his wife, and the released children, who had to relocate to an apartment.  The government has refused to pay Tarfa for its wrongdoings, escalating the situation before the High Court 12 in Kano state.

International Christian Concern (ICC) calls for the remaining children wrongly detained by the Nigerian government to be released and continues to pray for them. We pray that Nigerian authorities will recognize their wrongdoings, release the children, and pay Tarfa and his wife the reparations they deserve.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Iran arrests three for converting from Islam to Christianity

2025-03-23T01:37:00.000-07:00

Why do so many turn away from Islam and to Christianity? Well, Mohammed married a six-year-old, that's why. Now, Iran continues to use sharia law to force and to scare people to remain Muslim.

As extreme Christian persecution continues in Iran, three Christian converts in the nation received a combined total of 40 years in prison on March 8 for practicing their faith.

Narges Nasri, who is currently pregnant, Mehran Shamloui, and Abbas Soori were arrested in early November 2024 when authorities raided their homes in Tehran. All three converts were members of house churches.

According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Nasri was sentenced to 16 years in prison for “‘propaganda activity contrary to Islamic law’ due to her alleged ‘influential connections abroad,’... membership in anti-regime groups ... [and] propaganda against the regime.” Nasri was also fined and given “15 years of social rights deprivation.”

Shamloui was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in jail for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law,” and “membership in groups opposing the state.” The man will also be subjected to “15 years of social deprivation, and a fine of 250 million tomans (about $4,120).”

HRANA reports that Soori received a 15-year prison sentence for “propaganda activities contrary to Islamic law,” and “membership in groups opposing the state.” Additionally, Soori must endure “15 years of social deprivation, a fine of 330 million tomans (about $6,500), [and] additional penalties, including a travel ban, a ban on residing in Tehran and neighboring provinces, and a ban on membership in social groups for two years.”

Christians, especially those who convert from Islam, are often targeted for persecution and mistreatment in Iran. Moreover, attempting to evangelize about Christianity is prohibited and publicly elevating Jesus Christ over Islamic beliefs about God could get an individual a prison or a death sentence.

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Iran passed legislation in 2021 that would allow authorities to target religious minorities with prison time in the nation. The law penalizes anyone “engaging in propaganda that educates in a deviant way contrary to the holy religion of Islam.”

Iran continues to be one of the most egregious offenders of human rights in the world. The nation remains on the U.S. State Department’s Countries of Particular Concern list due to its harsh abuses of religious freedom.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Deported persecuted Christians to return to countries that will probably kill them

2025-02-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Among those deported from the United States to Panama for eventual return to their home countries are several converts to Christianity facing severe persecution in their home countries, according to widespread media reports in a story published by The New York Times.

“Only a miracle can save us,” one deportee said. A persecuted minority who converted to Christianity in a banned underground church, her life — and those of many around her — hang in the balance as they await their fate at the hands of Panamanian authorities.

Ten Iranian Converts

At least 10 of those being held in Panama en route to their home countries are Iranian converts from Islam. If returned to Iran, they will face the death penalty for apostasy — a severe crime under Sharia law. Iranian Christians have been heavily persecuted for decades, despite a long history in the country.

While the government allows some degree of freedom for historically non-Muslim communities, converts from Islam to Christianity are viciously persecuted and are treated as a national security threat.

One of the world’s few theocracies, the Iranian system is built on extreme devotion to a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. After the overthrow of the secular but authoritarian monarchy in 1979, Iran swung hard toward Islamist extremism and has continued on that path ever since, with a growing security apparatus designed to suppress religious and political dissent in every corner of society.

Iran’s constitution, finalized soon after the 1979 revolution, is a religious manifesto that quotes the Quran extensively and mandates the military to fulfill “the ideological mission of jihad in Allah’s way; that is, extending the sovereignty of Allah’s law throughout the world.”

For religious minorities in Iran, there is no escape from the extremist policies of a government fueled by an extremist interpretation of Shia Islam that leaves no room even for Sunni Islam, much less religious minorities like Christianity.

A Lone Chinese Christian

The Iranian refugees are not the only persecuted minority being sent back to their home country.

One man in his 50s who had recently fled China held up a Chinese-language Bible and explained to a reporter for The New York Times that he had come to the United States seeking freedom. International Christian Concern (ICC) has worked to support Chinese Christians in the past, including by providing them with secret Bibles.

The Chinese man, identified only by his surname Wang, faces the threat of forced return to a country that has waged a decades-long war against Christianity and aggressively works to extradite and punish religious refugees who have fled the country seeking religious freedom.

China is known to have forced abortions on its citizens, sterilized women without their consent, and murdered religious minorities to sell their organs on the black market. Christian home churches are an attempt to escape government scrutiny, but even they are often raided and their members arrested on charges of working against the interests of the state.

China operates a concentrated campaign of persecution against its Muslim-majority Uyghur population. Donald Trump, at the end of his first term, declared the Chinese government’s actions against the Uyghurs a genocide after detailed research by government and civil society organizations around the world documenting a vast network of concentration camps throughout the Xinjiang region.

China has even reached beyond its borders to suppress religion and silence opposition. Chinese spy rings have been discovered around the world, from Kabul to New York City. The Afghan spy ring worked with the Haqqani network, a Taliban-affiliated terrorist group, to hunt down Uyghurs and bring them back to China. China has also stepped up its efforts to capture escaping religious minorities through the more traditional route of formal extradition requests.

Non-Refoulement

In Wang’s case, though, it does not appear that China has filed an extradition request or engaged actively to seek his return. While the United States has long maintained programs providing paths for refugees fleeing religious persecution, these programs appear to have been disrupted in recent weeks, halting the admission of already-vetted persecuted minorities and making it difficult or impossible for new arrivals to make their case.

According to reports, those recently deported to Panama include persons from Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, and Uzbekistan — a list that includes many of the countries that are most hostile to Christianity.

Refoulement, or the forced return of refugees and asylum seekers to countries where they are likely to face persecution, is prohibited in numerous international treaty bodies, including the Convention against Torture and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED). The United States is party to the Convention against Torture but has refused to sign the ICPPED.

According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, adherence to non-refoulement is “an implicit guarantee flowing from the obligations to respect, protect and fulfill human rights.”

Justifying its decision to deport these Christians and others, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman claimed that “Not a single one of these aliens asserted fear of returning to their home country at any point during processing or custody.”

While the veracity of her claim is impossible to verify, the principle of non-refoulement applies to “all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status,” according to the U.N. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

17 Americans arrested in Nepal

2025-02-12T12:28:00.000-08:00

Nepalese media reported last week that more than a dozen U.S. citizens and one citizen of India were detained and questioned over alleged evangelistic activities in southeastern Nepal. Civil society sources and religious leaders have confirmed the news to International Christian Concern (ICC), specifying the city of Dharan as the location of the incident and expressing alarm at the Nepalese government’s overt attempt to intimidate the Christian community.

The American Christians, visiting Nepal on tourist visas, were reportedly found helping to construct a building in Dharan. Authorities accused them of sharing their faith with locals, though officials did not elaborate on the concern.

Nepal’s Anti-Conversion Laws

Under the National Penal Code of 2017, “No person shall convert any one from one religion to another or make attempt to or abet such conversion.” The Nepalese Constitution, ratified in 2015, contains a similar prohibition, stating in Article 26(3) that “No person shall ... convert another person from one religion to another or any act or conduct that may jeopardize other’s [sic] religion.”

Together, these laws allow authorities to selectively target Christian religious practice, which prioritizes sharing one’s faith with others more than many other religions. Neighboring India, which has been accused of funding religious extremism in Nepal, has similar laws but only at the state level.

Anti-conversion laws in India also target “forced” conversion. While the practical impact of this semantic difference is minimal, Nepal’s hardline stance against all conversions makes it an outlier in the region.

Nepalese authorities released the group after questioning, warning them that they could face further consequences if found continuing to proselytize. Under Nepalese law, authorities could deport and ban the group from reentering Nepal. Local Christians, who are regularly harassed by authorities on charges of proselytization, face three to six years in prison for the offense.

Legal and Social Harassment

Though those facing prosecution are often released on bail and later acquitted, this is not always the case. Even when positively resolved, these cases have a dampening effect on religious minorities and their right to share their religion. Some accused report being detained for months while their cases progressed slowly. Many cases stretch on for years before being decided.

In one famous case, Christian pastor Keshav Raj Acharya was sentenced to two years in prison in November 2021 for proselytizing. Acharya’s trouble with the law stems back to 2020, when he was arrested three times for an online video in which he appeared to claim that God could heal COVID-19, then a relatively new global phenomenon. In addition to COVID-related charges, authorities charged him with attempted religious conversion and offending the religious sensibilities of others — both crimes under Nepalese law, as detailed above.

Years of legal pressure have not succeeded in diminishing the Christian church in Nepal, which is growing rapidly by all accounts. Still, the country’s legal structure and everyday practices are discriminatory, from their constitution down to the local police. Nepal’s legal structure and governmental practices require significant reform to realign with international human rights standards.

A widespread problem for the Christian community in Nepal is the matter of community-level ostracism that pushes Christians to the margins. Boycotts of Christians’ businesses by their neighbors can have a devastating impact, especially in remote areas where one’s identity is known to everyone, and the only potential customers are local to that town or village. In some cases, the only option is to relocate.

In Hinduism, the body after death is considered a hindrance to the soul’s progress toward freedom and is therefore cremated to prevent the soul from lingering near the body. Nepalese Christians tend to bury their dead without first cremating, creating discomfort among their Hindu neighbors who believe that this practice creates haunted areas. Consequently, Christians in certain areas — especially in the Kathmandu Valley — face difficulties accessing land to bury their dead.

In one well-known communal cemetery, located behind the Pashupati Hindu Temple in Kathmandu, the court ruled against Christians seeking to bury their dead in what had been their traditional local burial ground. When ICC visited the site in 2023, the area was still closed to Christian burials. However, the U.S. Department of State noted in a report published in May of that year that authorities were allowing burials of individuals from indigenous faiths.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Infiltration of Islam into Europe has led to more hate crimes against Christians

2025-01-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

There are quite a few people — including some Christians themselves — who seem to think it’s unsuitable to talk about anti-Christian hate crimes in the West when believers are being slaughtered in Nigeria, disappearing in North Korea, or living under constant fear and contempt in Pakistan.

Though Paris is indeed no Pyongyang, people should be able to discuss the existence of anti-Christian sentiment regardless of where it exists. And it so happens that Europe is seeing a rising number of hate crimes directed against Christianity, according to a recent report from the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC).

“For all of my life living in the U.K., I grew up with open discussion and free speech,” said Paul James-Griffiths, director of Christian Heritage Edinburgh. “From about 2013, things began to change. Before then, people could generally express different opinions in a free society.”

James-Griffiths added that, for the last decade-plus, “The currents against Christianity and traditional family values, as well as against our democratic culture, have gone from being a stream to being a river.”

Behind the changing currents, he sees two main sources: radical Muslims and people with far-left politics. “Both groups seem to use each other to advance their cause,” he said, adding that the far-left “champions diversity, except for Christianity and traditional values based on this faith.” Meanwhile, radical Muslims “laugh behind the backs” of the far left, while they use “diversity” ideals “to gain power in Europe.”

An example of this growing political power surfaced in December 2023 with the formation of The Muslim Vote (U.K.), which seeks to exert pressure on politicians.

James-Griffiths fears that the U.K. might eventually see the prohibition of “open discussion and critique of Islam, Muhammad, and the Quran.”

For European Christianity, it can be difficult to determine whether the larger threat comes from adherents to an anti-Christian belief system, or from the many Europeans with a godless hatred — homegrown in the West and now in full bloom.

“Both forms of persecution are growing in the U.K.,” James-Griffiths said. “My wife is German, and she says that their culture is trying to hold on to the Christian way of doing things more strongly than we are doing [in the U.K.]. However, this is now rapidly changing.”

One of the most striking statistics in the recent OIDAC report involves Germany, where hate crimes against Christians reportedly doubled from 2022 to 2023.

Along with this sharp rise is the reality that “Many anti-Christian hate crimes do not make it into official statistics,” said Anja Hoffmann, executive director of the OIDAC in Europe.

Additionally, many European countries do not keep statistics regarding anti-Christian incidents.

“We are increasingly concerned about the overall situation in Europe,” Hoffmann said. “In particular, restrictions on religious freedom and discrimination against Christians ... leading to growing self-censorship among Christians.

“More and more young Christians have become very cautious about whether and when to talk about their faith in public.”

On a similar note, James-Griffiths remarked that, “Increasingly, we are seeing people being persecuted and losing their jobs for their stand for traditional Christian values.”

This type of discrimination, as Hoffmann pointed out, tends to come from “radical secularist views that lead to intolerance of religious beliefs or worldviews.” However, anti-Christian hate crimes can have a variety of motives. These include radical Muslim hostility, along with motives from persons with far-left or far-right politics.

“Some perpetrators simply have a personal hatred of Christianity or religion in general, which is directed against church buildings,” Hoffmann said.

Most cases recorded by OIDAC involve perpetrators and motives that remain unknown. And even among attacks with an established radical Islamist motive, the perpetrators are often European natives, not migrants.

Though attacks in Europe by migrant perpetrators are indeed noteworthy, much of the continent’s underlying anti-Christian hostility comes from the Europeans themselves, a considerable number of whom occupy positions of influence. As a result, Christians can feel compelled to hide their beliefs and views in the workplace and at a university.

“In order to counter this trend and safeguard religious freedom, including the freedom to express religious views in public, we need to raise awareness of legislation and social trends that have a negative impact on religious freedom,” Hoffmann said.

Though Christians in Europe encounter far less physical danger than believers in many other parts of the world, the continent is still witnessing an increase in incidents of anti-Christian hostility, and this hostility can come from multiple sources.

“I hope and pray for a Christian revival and reformation again in Europe as more and more people see what is going on,” James-Griffiths said. “However, the trend appears to be heading towards anti-Jewish and anti-Christian movements.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Cuba loosening restrictions by releasing political prisoners

2025-01-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo gained his freedom from a Cuban prison on Friday after serving three and a half years in jail for protesting the communist nation’s human rights violations. His release is part of a mass pardon agreement and incremental release of 553 prisoners, a deal brokered by the Vatican.

Cuban authorities detained Rosales Fajardo, pastor of Monte de Sion Independent Church in Palma Soriano, Cuba, on July 11, 2021, after he joined thousands of Cuban citizens in voicing concerns about the regime’s treatment of its people. Hundreds were reportedly detained as a result of the demonstrations. 

According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Rosales Fajardo was given a seven-year sentence, down from eight, in May 2022 after being convicted on charges of criminal incitement, assault, public disorder, and disrespect.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in September 2024 denounced the imprisonment of Rosales Fajardo and reported that he was tortured while detained.

“Fajardo … experienced torture in detention,” the report states. “On one occasion, prison authorities beat Fajardo so severely that he lost a tooth. They then urinated on him. In February 2024, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that the Cuban government had arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned Fajardo.”

Amnesty International in 2022 explained that the protests resulted from the Cuban government’s poor handling of food and medicine distribution, electricity blackouts, and their restrictions on human rights.

Communist governments, like that of Cuba, often restrict protests and levy spurious charges against demonstrators as a way of instilling fear in their citizens and deterring further opposition. Christians are frequent targets of communist governmental attacks due to their criticism and defense of human rights abuses.

According to International Christian Concern’s Global Persecution Index of 2024, “dictators everywhere appear to be increasing their focus on controlling religion or eliminating Christianity altogether.”

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

Pakistan is not a safe travel destination

2025-01-10T12:22:00.000-08:00

An International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis of data from the United States Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) found that 20 Christians have remained behind bars in Pakistan for a total of 134 years for the crime of blasphemy.

USCIRF is a U.S. governmental commission that monitors religious freedom rights abroad. Due to the secrecy surrounding many foreign governments, USCIRF maintains that “it is difficult to obtain, confirm, and verify comprehensive information about all victims. It is also impossible to capture all incidents of victimization.”

Between 2002 and 2023, the Christians were detained or imprisoned in separate cases for alleged crimes, including “insulting the Prophet Muhammad,” a crime punishable by death under Pakistani law, “desecrating the Quran,” and “intending to outrage religious feelings.” All 20 remain incarcerated to this day.

Ten of the 20 Christians have received their sentence, with nine being sentenced to death and one individual receiving life imprisonment. The other 10 remain jailed as they wait for verdicts in their cases. Though death sentences don’t result in actual executions in Pakistan, they leave the accused languishing in prison for years or even decades.

One of the Christians, Asif Pervaiz, reportedly sent a text message to his manager at a factory that was deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad. Pervaiz was detained in 2013 and sentenced in 2020. The court order in Pervaiz’s case, reportedly viewed by Reuters, stated that the Christian “shall be hanged by his neck till his death” for “misusing” his phone.

In another case, friends Adil Babar and Simon Nadeem, both teenagers at the time of their arrest in 2023, were detained for allegedly calling a dog “Muhammad Ali.” According to USCIRF, they were charged with “insulting the Prophet Muhammad” and are awaiting sentencing.

Christians often feel the brunt of Pakistan’s stifling laws against religious freedom. According to ICC’s new Global Persecution Index, its latest report on Christian persecution around the globe, Pakistan’s restrictions on religious freedoms are expanding and growing more oppressive.

“Despite years of international advocacy to overturn or soften these [blasphemy] laws, Pakistan has only doubled down on the law, with legislation to increase punishments for blasphemy passing handily in the legislature in 2023,” the report stated.

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws allow authorities and mobs of Muslims to imprison, threaten, and attack Christians for their faith.

According to one ICC staffer, “The persecution of Christians in Pakistan, whether due to blasphemy or forced conversions, is increasingly common, and it often goes unpunished. Persecution will continue to increase until the persecutors are held accountable under the law.” 

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 

2025 Global Perseuction Index

2025-01-03T10:44:00.000-08:00

International Christian Concern (ICC) has released its renamed and revamped annual report for the new year.

ICC’s 2025 Global Persecution Index offers an in-depth analysis of drivers of persecution in 20 countries, complete with stories of Christians enduring persecution for their faith in Christ.

“ICC examined every corner of the world to identify the worst of the worst areas of persecution,” ICC President Jeff King said. “Approximately 300 million Christians worldwide face persecution of all types, including imprisonment, torture, and assassination.”

Formerly known as Persecutors of the Year, the new and improved report examines trends that have created the realities that Christians face worldwide. It also offers ways readers can support persecuted Christians through prayer, advocacy, and action. The comprehensive report is geared toward decision-makers on Capitol Hill, journalists, and stakeholders.

Recent developments highlighted in the 2025 Global Persecution Index include the following:

Persecution in Nicaragua has worsened dramatically, with increased government hostility toward Christians.
In India, Hindu nationalism has intensified, stripping away the rights of Christians and other religious minorities through anti-conversion laws and mob violence.
Christians in the DRC, Nigeria, and regions throughout the Sahel face horrific attacks and displacement.

The Global Persecution Index also examines ongoing trends reshaping the landscape of religious freedom, such as the dramatic rise of authoritarianism, mass displacement, and religious nationalism. Emerging trends are explored, too, such as regimes targeting Christians across borders and the increasing use of technology to surveil and oppress believers.

There are hopeful trends as well. The Global Persecution Index includes stories of resilience and church growth — even in the most oppressive environments — like Iran and Indonesia.

Despite increased persecution worldwide, the gospel continues to spread, and God’s kingdom continues to grow. To learn more, download the 2025 Global Persecution Index for free.

To read more news stories, visit the ICC Newsroom. For interviews, please email press@persecution.org. 