Christian Persecution – Asia

Lack of religious freedom has always been an issue in Islam; however, the advance of the Islamic renewal movement and Islamic militancy has accentuated this. The rise of Hindutva over the past decade now extends to alleged government complicity in religious violence, and, in parts of India, anti-conversion legislation. Likewise the rise of Buddhist nationalism and militancy, which has lead to increased persecution, may soon extend to anti-conversion legislation being introduced in Sri Lanka.

At least three of the wounded survivors of a deadly Christmas night attack against a village church in Pakistan have sustained permanent eye damage, confirmed doctors from Lahore who operated on two of them.

Police used noxious gas to break up a Christian worship gathering attended by 40 Hmong people in the Dien Bien Dong district of North Vietnam.

CSW conducted interviews with 50 North Koreans in four different countries and heard of human rights abuses such as arbitrary executions and torture for this report which provides a rare insight into conditions in North Korea’s secret prison camps.

Information has been pouring out of Vietnam about a recent wave of government repression against Montagnard evangelicals in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

Laskar Jihad, the extremist Islamic group responsible for much of the violence in Central Sulawesi and the Malukus, has announced that it is disbanding.

A mob has destroyed a church in the predominantly Muslim city of Makassar in South Sulawesi, according to a report from The Barnabas Fund.

Indigenous Christian ministries in Myanmar (formerly Burma) continue to effectively proclaim the gospel despite pockets of severe persecution.

In the wake of two more deadly terrorist attacks against Christian institutions in Pakistan in early August, government security officials have advised local church leaders to arm themselves for possible assaults by Muslim extremists.