Mass Exodus of Christians: New Report Highlights Global Crisis of Persecution

According to the latest report by the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), titled “Persecuted and Forgotten?,” millions of Christians around the world are forced to flee their homes due to religiously motivated violence, conflicts, and extremism. As reported by Christian Today, the study covers the period from August 2024 to June 2026 and shows a deterioration in living conditions for believers in 10 of the 18 countries analyzed, while no improvement in the situation was recorded in any of the countries.

The situation in sub-Saharan Africa is particularly alarming. In Nigeria, where extremists and armed groups are terrorizing the population, nearly one million Christians have become internally displaced persons. Eyewitnesses describe horrific cases of abductions and torture aimed at forcing people to renounce their faith. A similarly catastrophic situation is unfolding in Burkina Faso, where Islamists control a significant portion of the territory, as well as in Mali and Mozambique, where Christians are being killed and their churches destroyed.

The ACN report also highlights an existential threat to ancient Christian communities in the Middle East. In Syria, according to the organization, the Christian population has declined by more than 80% since 2011. In addition to extremism, authoritarian regimes and religious nationalism are major factors contributing to oppression. Specifically, pressure on “underground” churches is intensifying in China, arrests are on the rise in Iran, and in India, more than 700 incidents of faith-based violence were recorded in 2025.

John Pontifex, a representative of ACN, described the current situation as a “humanitarian catastrophe” that the international community continues to ignore. Experts emphasize that a lack of religious literacy in the West often leads to an underestimation of the scale of anti-Christian hostility, which only exacerbates the situation for believers in the world’s most dangerous regions.