Christian Today | Nov. 22, 2018
Western nations are failing to help the world’s religious minorities as they grapple with a surge in violent attacks and intimidation, a new report has claimed.
Religious Freedom in the World 2018 warns that religious minorities are coming under increasing threat as a result of ‘ultra-nationalism’ by governments as well as groups of extremists.
The report by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) examined 196 nations over a two-year period up to June 2018.
It says that there has been a ‘spike in hatred’ against religious minorities in countries around the world and an ‘especially serious decline’ in religious freedom in India and China.
Other countries where religious freedom has deteriorated include Burma, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkey.
‘Many of the others – including North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Eritrea – the situation was already so bad, it could scarcely get any worse,’ it said.