A new report from non-profit ministry Open Doors has shown that the surveillance culture in nations such as China and India have pushed the faith underground.
Open Doors USA, an organisation ‘committed to aiding persecuted Christians around the globe’ has released its annual report which reveals an encroachment on religious liberties in various countries.
The report states that over 260 million Christians currently live in high persecution areas, a nine percent increase over the past year.
North Korea, India, and certain Islamic-majority nations are recorded as the worst offenders of religious persecution.
Christians have been recorded to have faced violence and pressure from hostile forces.
Open Doors CEO, David Curry, spoke on the issue, stating: “The oppression of 100 million Christians in China is already happening.
“But it’s going to affect tens of millions more as [tracking] technology spreads over the next five years.”
Christians face persecution across the globe (Image: Getty)
Many Christians are forced to meet in secret in China (Image: Getty)
Open Doors was founded in 1955, and has since tracked religious persecution globally.
Their report is audited by experts at the International Institute of Religious Freedom to verify their investigations.
China, though, has been a particular focus of the report.
Notable within the region is the rise of “systematic harassment” of Christians and other minorities, particularly over the last three years.
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Persecution is up nine percent from last year (Image: Getty)
Jian Zhu, the director of the China Institute, has been banned from entering China.
He spoke of one church, of 10,000 members, which was forced to split into several hundred groups, meeting in secret in different homes and offices.
The so-called “surveillance state” means that Christians, once discovered, are harshly persecuted.
He added: “Today, every street, every institution, every company has a Communist Party member to spy on them.
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India is also a country of concern for persecution (Image: Getty)
There has also been a ‘Christianity crackdown’ in North Korea (Image: Getty)
“They get people to betray each other. Across the nation, China has strictly implemented policies of religious persecution.”
More recently, a pastor who objected to this surveillance was sentenced to nine years imprisonment.
The United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, spoke out on the conviction, stating in a tweet: “I am alarmed that Pastor Wang Yi…was tried in secret and sentenced to nine years in prison on trumped-up charges.
“Beijing must release him and end its intensifying repression of Christians and members of all other religious groups.”
The Open Doors report also examined sources of violent extremism.
Dangerous countries to be a Christian (Image: Daily Express)
Out of the 50 countries where Christians were seen to face the worst persecution, Open Doors cited “Islamic oppression” as the primary source in 31 nations.
Mr Curry stated: “A non state group like al Qaeda has driven nations to extreme Islam. They force Sharia Law on everybody…these non state actors run roughshod over the rights of Christians and other minorities.”
Christians, however, are not alone in the persecution they face.
In nations such as Burma and China, Uyghur Muslims face oppression and persecution, and in India, Christians and Muslims are ostracised by the majority Hindu community.
Other minority groups such as Uighur Muslims also face persecution (Image: Getty)
Speaking on the issue, Nadine Maenza, who serves on the US Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF)said: “India is extremely troubling. USCIRF has spoken out several times recently regarding these trends of taking away citizenship based on religion.”
In the fight against oppression, charities such as Open Doors continue to work behind the scenes to highlight the key issues.
Mr Curry concluded: “Moderate voices are going to need to step up. Only with their cooperation will this virulent form of cancer stop spreading.”