Federal Report Shows “Alarming” Increase in Global Persecution

Mark 13:13 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”

A federal panel on religious freedom has issued their annual report showing that persecution of people of faith has increased significantly over the last year.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom examines religious freedom around the world and then provides the White House with a list of violations along with a report on the implementation of the International Religious Freedom act.

“Humanitarian crises fueled by waves of terror, intimidation, and violence have engulfed an alarming number of countries in the year since the release of [USCIRF’s] prior annual report last May,” the commission wrote. “The horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the rights of vulnerable religious communities matter.”

Much of the report focused on the persecution of Christians at the hands of the Islamic terrorist group ISIS.

“Yazidis and Christians have borne the worst brunt of the persecution by ISIL and other violent religious extremists. From summary executions to forced conversions, rape to sexual enslavement, abducted children to destroyed houses of worship, attacks on these communities are part of a systematic effort to erase their presence from the Middle East,” the commission explained.

The report also cited Boko Haram in Nigeria and their focus on Christians. The report also noted  situations where Christians are forced to flee.

“In Iraq, 2 million people were internally displaced in 2014 as a result of ISIL’s offensive,” it outlined. “More than 6.5 million of Syria’s pre-civil-war population now is internally displaced, and more than 3.3 million more are refugees in neighboring states.”

“In Nigeria, Boko Haram’s rampages are responsible for the displacement of more than one million individuals,” the report continued. “In Central African Republic, a million or more people have been driven from their homes. And in Burma, 140,000 Rohingya Muslims and at least 100,000 largely Kachin Christians remain internally displaced.”

Leave a Reply