By Uzay Bulut, European Conservative. (photo: Levi Meir Clancy/Unsplash)
Anew report by Open Doors, an international human rights organization that monitors Christian persecution on a global scale, confirms that Christianity is the world’s most persecuted religion. Except for North Korea, where the source of persecution is Communist and Post-Communist oppression, the cause of persecution in the other top 10 countries is mainly Islamic oppression.
Every year, Open Doors releases its “World Watch” report of the 50 states that persecute Christians. According to the organization’s 2025 report, more than 380 million Christians across the world suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith.
North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan are all in the top ten list of countries where Christians are exposed to extreme persecution.
The only NATO member country on the World Watch list is Turkey (number 45), where the Christian minority suffers from Islamic oppression, religious nationalism, dictatorial paranoia, and ethno-religious hostility.
Somalia
Somalia, which ranks number two, is one of the most hostile nations for Christians and Christianity. The collapse of Mohammed Siad Barre’s regime in 1991 turned Somalia into a failed state, where Islamists, local militias, and warlords vie for power. Despite the fractured nature of governance, terror group Al-Shabaab controls a significant portion of the country. Somalia’s 2012 Constitution underscores Islam as the state religion and elevates Sharia law above all else, effectively banning the propagation of other religions. In Somalia,
following Jesus is a matter of life and death. … The dangers have increased over the years, as the militants have increasingly focused on finding and eliminating Christian leaders.
Young female converts to Christianity remain extremely vulnerable, with many living in hiding. Commonly, a woman suspected of converting to Christianity will be humiliated in public, kept under strict house arrest, raped, abducted, forcibly married to a radical sheikh or killed. If already married, she will likely be divorced and have her children taken away to ensure that they are raised in an Islamic way.
Yemen
Yemen, which ranks number three, is now ruled by three different powers, as well as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS). The civil war in Yemen, ongoing since 2015, has brought Yemen to the brink of collapse: