The communist nation of North Korea has topped the Open Doors “World Watch List” of 50 countries where Christians are persecuted by their own governments.
North Korea was again this year followed by the Islamic country of Saudi Arabia, as well as other Islam-dominated countries in the top ten are Iran (at Nr 3), Somalia (4), Maldives (5), and Yemen (8).However, Open Doors explain that there has tended to be more openness observed in most of the communist nations in the top ten, which include Vietnam (7), Laos (9) and China (10). Open Doors also reveals that Mahayana Buddhism is the state religion of Bhutan which comes in at number 6.
According to Open Doors, it is believed that tens of thousands of Christians are currently suffering in North Korean prison camps, and are having to endure extreme abuse and violence, according to the 2006 World Watch List.
Though no exact figures can be given, Open Doors estimates that hundreds of Christians were killed by North Korea’s ‘Hermit Regime’ in 2005.
The second worst position on the Open Doors list was Saudi Arabia, for the fourth year in a row. Saudi Arabia is a country in which religious freedom does not exist, tell Open Doors. The legal system is based on Islamic law (Shariah) and 'apostasy' – leaving Islam or converting to another religion – is punishable by death.
Open Doors recorded more than 70 expatriate Christians who were arrested there in 2005 during worship in private homes in what has been called Saudi Arabia’s largest crackdown on Christians in a decade.
Worryingly, in third place, Iran has seemed to deteriorate even more in its religious freedom for Christians over the past year, following the election of the hard-line conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the presidency in June 2005
