AMANDA REPORTS: North Korea, Sudan, Yemen Among Top 10 Most Dangerous Places for Christians

(591 WORDS) — North Korea ranks as the world’s most dangerous place for Christians to live, followed by Somalia and Yemen, according to the 2026 World Watch List, the latest ranking by Open Doors of the 50 countries most known for encouraging or allowing extreme persecution of followers of Jesus Christ.

Following the top three are the nations of Sudan, Eritrea, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya and Iran in the top 10. North Korea’s government is an atheistic communist regime, while Eritrea has a mixed Muslim and Christian population. Yemen is dominated by an Islamic extremist regime.

“More than 388 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,” Open Doors reports. “In Open Doors’ World Watch List top 50 alone, 315 million-plus Christians face very high or extreme persecution.”

Nepal re-entered the WWL list at 46 after a three year absence, following the resignation of the prime minister after widespread protests against censorship and government corruption. Christians were beaten and imprisoned, and churches attacked by radical Hindu groups amid the growing instability spawned by the protests and unrest.

Christians in China face tight limits on activities allowed; religious leaders are pressured to bow to the Chinese Communist Party. Many churches in the WWL under similar conditions must go underground for fear of violence or getting shut down.

According to its website, the mission of Open Doors is supporting persecuted Christians worldwide. The organization was launched in 1955 when a young Dutch Christian, who became known as Brother Andrew, began smuggling Bibles to persecuted Christians into Communist countries in Eastern Europe.

Brother Andrew authored “God’s Smuggler” that chronicles how he smuggled Bibles to persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain.

VIOLENCE TARGETS CHRISTIANS

Alarming trends described in the WWL emphasize violence that occurs against Christians. In North Korea, known as one of the most brutal dictatorships, it is illegal to own a Bible.

Syria moved from 18 to number 6 in the ranking, with the June 2025 Damascus church attack noted as part of intensifying threats against Christians. In Syria’s ongoing civil war, the Christian population steadily declines, thanks to the constant danger posed by extremist Muslim elements. At number 10, Iran views Christianity as a threat from the West against Islamic dominance.

Countries scoring highest for violence toward Christians are Sudan, Nigeria, and Mali, included in the fourteen sub-Saharan African countries, with violence scores beyond doubled.

Thousands of cases where Christians are murdered, detained, and churches or Christian properties get attacked are recorded. A total of 4,849 Christians were killed for their faith as recorded for the 2026 WWL period, an increase of 373 over the 4,476 for 2025.

Others killed for following Christ were in Myanmar, Mexico and Syria, with these and more peoples increasingly displaced for their faith in attempts to escape Islamic extremism building in their ancestral homelands.

Most Murders in Nigeria

A video included in the report records Nigeria as the country where more Christians are killed for their faith than anywhere else in the world. Also, 4,491 of the 4,849 total for murders happened in the sub-Saharan Africa region, accounting for 93 percent globally. Virtually all of the regimes in the region are dominated by Islamic elements.

Open Doors describes the dire conditions Christians face around the world, yet remains officially hopeful:

“Christianity is so violently opposed in many countries on the World Watch List, that faith should be impossible there. Yet, with God, all things are possible; not only are believers continuing to hold on to Jesus, they are determined to share their faith with others, and the church is growing,”

---

PREVIOUSLY ON AMANDA REPORTS:

Survey Finds Love and Generosity Increase With More Bible Reading

Strong Personal Identity Linked to Bible Reading

Families Are Most Trusted Major American Institutions, Survey Finds

---