Open Doors International, an institution dedicated to the study of the reality of persecuted Christians around the world, has recently launched the World Watch List 2023 – Reporting period: 01-10-2021 to 30-09-2022.
Among the top countries with an extreme degree of persecution are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Lybia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, and India
On the 2022 list, three Latin American countries were ranked in the top 50. On the 2023 list, there are now four: Nicaragua is ranked No. 50 in 2023, the first time the country has appeared within the top 50. It joins Colombia (22), Cuba (27), and Mexico (38). In both Mexico and Colombia, Christians are vulnerable to organized crime, repression inside indigenous communities, and a highly secularized context that sometimes endangers the free manifestation of the Christian faith in the public sphere. In Cuba, the communist government is primarily responsible for repressive actions against religious leaders and religious communities critical of the regime. In Nicaragua especially, dictatorial repression of church leaders became increasingly visible during the year. Overall, the figures for violence in the region have increased considerably.
The 2023 ranking for other Latin American countries, outside the top 50, but still particularly difficult to be a Christian includes Honduras, El Salvador, and Venezuela.
The World Watch List is produced by World Watch Research, the research department of Open Doors. More information can be found on its Open Doors Analytical website. It has a compilation of the main documents, a section with the complete dossiers of all the countries mentioned in the WWL 2023, and an explanation of the methodology. The password for access to these documents is freedom.
