ICC Note: As with every new year comes a new World Watch List from Open Doors USA. For the third consecutive year we are seeing an overall increase in the rate of persecution worldwide. This is largely due to the rise in radical islamic terrorism. The new 2017 list shows a particular increase in violence against Christians in the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

01/01/2017 US (MNN): Europe’s terror attacks. The assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey. The Brexit. The Zika virus.

2016 was a year of memorable and sometimes troubling headlines. Today, Emily Fuentes of Open Doors USA is discussing one you may not have encountered on mainstream media.

It’s the primary focus of their 2017 World Watch List: a ranking of the world’s 50 worst places to be a Christian.

“Persecution is increasing overall throughout the world. We’re seeing it particularly in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa,” says Fuentes.

“We’re seeing the trend of it (persecution) getting worse around the world, we’re not seeing many cases of it getting better.”

This is the third consecutive year that persecution has noticeably risen, making the trend especially noteworthy. The uptick of violence perpetrated by radical Islam was one of the largest contributing factors.

In 2013, Christians living in “failed states” — countries in which “social and political structures have collapsed to the point where the government has little or no control” – experienced very high levels of persecution. The collapse of infrastructure in these nations resulted in increased pressure on believers.

As noted here, 2014 brought “historic levels” of persecution upon the Christian community. Africa saw the fastest growth, moving three nations into the top 10 for the first time: Sudan, Eritrea, and Nigeria. ISIS attacks in the Middle East triggered a mass exodus of Christian refugees.

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