We attended the Open Doors press conference in Madrid to get the stories and context of the most widely cited report on persecution of Christians globally.

TWR broadcasts 16 programs each week over shortwave radio to encourage believers in North Korea.

North Korea heads the new Open Doors ranking. North African countries such as Morocco and Algeria appear on the list. “If we lose religious freedom, then all other freedoms fall”.

Open Doors publishes a new edition of the World Watch List identifying as many as 78 countries with high levels of hostility against Christianity in the world. North Korea and Nigeria stand out among those with “extreme persecution”.

There is “extreme persecution” in 10 countries in Africa and the Middle East, says Open Doors. Elsewhere, worrying trends are observed in key geopolitical actors such as India, Saudi Arabia and China.

Even when governments hinder access to certain technologies, TWR is able to reach beyond the barriers.

In Qatar, host of the football World Cup, converts from Islam face physical, psychological and (for women) sexual violence. Globally, over 5,000 attacks on Christian churches have been recorded.

Afghanistan is new at the top of the Open Doors WWL 2022. Discover the full list.

The Islamic country replaces North Korea at the top of the World Watch List after 20 years. One in seven Christians worldwide suffers persecution, says Open Doors.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom annual report denounces that “the pandemic fostered misinformation targeting religious minorities”.

“We thought Covid-19 was going to minimize the effect of persecution, but it has been the opposite. Persecution has increased”, says the director of Open Doors Spain. The organisation releases its annual World Watch List.

A report of the Korea Future Initiative (KFI) presents well-documented violations in North Korea. Investigators conducted 117 interviews with survivors, witnesses, and perpetrators.

The 2020 World Press Freedom Index shows that “China censored their major coronavirus outbreaks extensively”. Norway is at the top and North Korea becomes the most dangerous country for journalists.

Growing pressure on Christians in China, Algeria, Burkina Faso, according to the 2020 Open Doors World Watch List. Christians face severe persecution in 73 countries.

“The government has passed laws that blatantly violate religious freedom”, Swiss Christian NGO HMK says. Christian natives and foreigners have been arrested because of their faith.