Opens Doors UK and Ireland launch the World Watch List 2025 In UK Parliament
On January 15th, 2025, Open Doors UK unveiled its annual World Watch List for 2025 in the Atlee Suite at Parliament. The World Watch List ranks the 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution. The accompanying advocacy report highlights the growing issue of rising authoritarianism in North Korea, Central Asia, and Iran, as well as extreme displacement in West and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK & Ireland, began by referencing the displacement of residents in the Palisades and surrounding areas of Los Angeles due to recent wildfires. She emphasized, however, that there is another wildfire of equal destructiveness and rapid spread—one that is largely unspoken. Sub-Saharan Africa, she stated, is the most violent region in the world for Christians, with an escalating number of killings.
“This year, Open Doors research finds that more than 380 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,” Blyth explained. “That is an increase of 15 million since last year and represents one in seven Christians globally.”
Eti, a speaker from Bangladesh, reported on the increasing number of imprisonments and false accusations made by police officers in her region. “We are at a crossroads, with expectations for change for the better,” Eti said. She called on Members of Parliament to be voices for the voiceless.
The event included a powerful testimony from Pastor Barnabas in Nigeria. His family is among the millions of believers displaced by violence and conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa. “Nobody is talking about it,” Barnabas said, describing the devastation his community faces. In Sudan, 8.8 million Christians are internally displaced—equivalent to the population of London.
A field reporter from East Africa urged MPs to use their influence to ensure UK aid reaches all groups in Sudan, regardless of religion. For almost five years, the Christian men in these displaced camps only leave to go out in search of food. With only 15 toilets for every 3,000 people, he shared, “Humanitarian distribution groups often discriminate against Christian communities.”
Some Christian communities are so underground that there are no visible religious markers left to target by groups such as the Taliban. Blyth posed the question, “How will you measure persecution when there is no church left?”
Henrietta Blyth emphasized that the UK government has affirmed that when the freedom of religion or belief is under attack, other basic human rights are often under threat as well. She affirmed that freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) serves as the ultimate litmus test for the health of other freedoms within a country.
Echoing the words of David Lammy, Blyth concluded by urging, “What we demand for ourselves, we must support for others.”
Recommendations from Open Doors to the UK Parliament:
1) Promote and protect FORB as a leading priority in foreign policy.
2) Ensure UK aid as it considers vulnerabilities associated with faith or religion.
3) Support the newly appointed Special Envoy for FoRB.
4) Ensure FCDO policies take account to the way in which faith religion belief and other vulnerabilities such as gender and displacement intersect.
Thanks to the MPs who supported the launch of the World Watch List 2025:
Shockat Adam
Jim Allister
Stuart Anderson
Edward Argar
Dr Scott Arthur
Catherine Atkinson
Richard Baker
Dame Harriett Baldwin
Alison Bennett
Saqib Bhatti
Sarah Bool
Dawn Butler
Juliet Campbell
Charlotte Cane
David Chadwick
Sarah Champion
Bambos Charalambous
Tom Collins
Victoria Collins
Steve Darling
Mims Davies
Kate Dearden
Jim Dickson
David Doogan
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Alex Easton
Cat Eccles
Maya Ellis
Dr Luke Evans
Tim Farron
Patricia Ferguson
Catherine Fookes
Mark Francois
Zoe Franklin
Sir Roger Gale
Preet Kaur Gill
John Glen
John Grady
Alison Griffiths
Fabian Hamilton
Monica Harding
Carolyn Harris
Rebecca Harris
Chris Hinchliff
Adam Jogee
Clive Jones
Ruth Jones
Gurdiner Josan
Sojan Joseph
Warinder Juss
Satvir Kaur
Ayoub Khan
Jayne Kirkham
Paul Kohler
Danny Kruger
Ben Lake
Katie Lam
John Lamont
Sir Edward Leigh
Sir Julian Lewis
Carla Lockhart
Mike Martin
Brian Mathew
Gordon McKee
John Milne
Navendu Mishra
Iqbal Mohamed
Helen Morgan
James Naish
Caroline Nokes
Brendan O’Hara
Abena Oppong-Asare
Taiwo Owatemi
Toby Perkins
Mark Pritchard
Connor Rand
Marie Rimmer
Andrew Rosindell
Sam Rushworth
Anna Sabine
Roz Savage
Jim Shannon
Vikki Slade
Cat Smith
David Smith
Jeff Smith
Rebecca Smith
Ian Sollom
Greg Stafford
Sir Desmond Swayne
Luke Taylor
Nick Thomas-Symonds
Richard Tice
Sir Stephen Timms
Matt Turmaine
Laurence Turner
Liz Twist
Martin Vickers
Andrew Western
John Whitby
Max Wilkinson
Pete Wishart
Mike Wood
Sir Jeremy Wright
