been replaced with pictures of President Xi Jinping and national flags, and Communist officials selecting church leaders, the report says.
In India, the Hindu nationalist government has fostered a climate in which attacks and harassment of Christians and Muslims have increased. Foreign funding of Christian-run hospitals, schools and church organisations has been blocked.
Across sub-Saharan Africa, Christians have faced 30% higher levels of violence than last year at the hands of Islamist militant groups who took advantage of lockdowns and governments weakened by the crisis, the report says. In Nigeria, the number of Christians killed has nearly tripled to 3,800 recorded deaths.
Among positive developments were Sudan’s new constitution guaranteeing freedom of religion and no longer specifying Islam as the state religion; and in northern Iraq, Muslim volunteers have been repairing destroyed churches and homes to encourage Christians to return to the area.
The Open Doors report is here.
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