NEW YORK — In its latest annual report, the Christian persecution non-profit Open Doors gives a comprehensive overview of the world’s most dangerous places for Christians. The report ranks the top 50 countries where persecution is highest. The reasons vary, from state methods of control to fundamentalist and extremist religious ideologies. 

The statistics “represent real Christians, like you and me, who are standing up for God — and suffering because of it,” writes David Curry, CEO of Open Doors.

Two such Christians were Boulos Yazigi and Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim in Syria. Yazigi was the Antiochian Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Alexandretta; Ibrahim was the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo. The men were kidnapped by rebels who were fighting the Syrian government in 2013. 

An investigation by Mansur Salib, a Syrian researcher based in the United States, determined that they were killed in December 2016, reported Agenzia Fides. Salib’s research found that they were executed by members of Nour al-Din al-Zenki, a rebel faction financed and armed by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

Christians living on the frontlines of the Syrian civil war face an extreme risk of violence as a minority caught in the crossfire of a brutal ongoing conflict. Their situation is part of one of four trends that the report highlights.

1. Christians in countries with the most people live in surveillance states

China and India are two of the most populous nations in the world, and as their governments tighten their grips on power they are increasingly using technology to monitor their populations. Their surveillance techniques combined with laws that target religious communities represent potential threats to the millions of Christians who live in each country.

China is implementing its Social Credit System (SCS) to grade behavior as good or bad citizenship. The Open Doors report cites one community that has set penalties for anyone who “illegally spreads Christianity.” With 415 million surveillance cameras and counting, the state has the infrastructure and legal framework to put as much pressure as it wants on its Christian communities.

In India, incidents of violence and hate crimes against Christians are increasing at the same time as the government is planning to expand its tracking capabilities with a national facial recognition system. This has worrying implications for Christians in a country that is becoming increasingly hostile to non-Hindus.

2. Islamic extremism is becoming more violent in sub-Saharan Africa

Burkina Faso shot 33 spots up the list from 2019, with its culture of religious tolerance eroding as Catholic priests and Protestant pastors are targeted and killed. Islamic militants are a constant destabilizing force in Mali and Central African Republic, and Boko Haram remains strong in Cameroon and Nigeria.

Nigeria is also experiencing attacks by Hausa-Faulani herdsmen and the establishment of the Islamic State of West Africa Province in its northern region.

3. Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka are seeing an unexpected emergence of militant Islamic ideology

Pakistan is number five on the list. Extremist Muslim groups target Christians outside the law with little hindrance from the government, which continues to enforce strict blasphemy laws that also target Christians. There are 20 currently imprisoned under such charges.

Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam are numbers 19, 20 and 21 on the watch list — higher than China, at 23. Sri Lanka, which made international headlines for the Easter Sunday church bombings and attacks that killed 250, jumped to 30 from 49 in 2019. Brunei is 37 and Indonesia is 49. 

4. The wars in Iraq and Syria have drastically reduced their Christian populations

There are just over 200,000 Christians living in Iraq, an 87 percent drop from the 1.5 million who were there before the U.S. invasion in 2003. Families who try to return face discrimination and a lack of the basic necessities required to rebuild their lives.

In Syria, some 744,000 Christians remain of a population of 2.2 million who lived there before the civil war began in 2011. Living conditions are bad even where security has improved. Many of those still in the country have been displaced. Christians in the Kurdish northeast face the destabilizing effects of the Turkish military’s invasion.

Micah Danney is a Poynter-Koch fellow and a reporter and associate editor for Religion Unplugged.