Religious Persecution and the World Watch List

Patricia Gibson Excerpts

Thursday 25th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

I am delighted to participate in this annual debate on the world watch list that ranks the persecution of Christians around the world, and to have attended the launch of the 2024 report last week. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) for securing this debate and for all the work that she and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) have done in this area for such a long time.

Persecuting people for their faith is completely unacceptable. As we have heard, nations that persecute people for their faith also have very poor human rights records across the board. This year, North Korea retains its No. 1 position in that grotesque league table as the worst country in the world for the persecution of its Christians, of which there are around 400,000. Those who are discovered to be Christian under that barbaric regime effectively face a death sentence: either they are deported to labour camps to be worked to death or they are shot on the spot, a fate shared by their whole family.

Violence against Christians has intensified in sub-Saharan Africa as the region faces increasing instability. During the 2024 reporting period, across 18 of the countries in that region, 4,606 Christians were killed because of their faith. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimate that 16.2 million Christians became forcibly displaced persons at the end of 2022.

Article 18 of the UN declaration of human rights states:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”

That article is almost identical to article 9 of the European convention on human rights. It will be no surprise to the Minister that we in the SNP are very keen for the UK Government to reaffirm their commitment to human rights, and to remain part of the European Court of Human Rights as part of that commitment. It is important that we do not politicise human rights in any part of the world, including the UK. Like other hon. Members, I pay tribute to the wonderful work of Open Doors, which does so much to support Christians who are persecuted for their faith around the world.

After North Korea, the worst offenders for the persecution of Christians are Somalia, Libya, Eritrea, Yemen, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Syria and Saudi Arabia—nations that do not believe that their populations should be able to worship their god, however they perceive their god, or to practise their Christian faith. As we have heard, that means that Christians in those nations face violence, “elimination”— not my word—arrest, harassment, attacks on and the destruction of their places of worship, as the hon. Member for Strangford outlined, and ultimately death.

The UK and all democratic nations must be unequivocal. The freedom to worship is a fundamental human right. We cannot tiptoe around so-called cultural, religious or other sensitivities. all nations that believe in and value freedom must stand up for it. That is our duty.

The UK has close relationships with some of the nations that I have mentioned as the worst offenders and those that are the most repressive in their persecution of Christians. Those close relationships must be re-examined in light of that persecution. If any nation turns a blind eye, it becomes complicit by default.

Every year I attend the Open Doors event in Parliament, and every year I am both moved and horrified by the first-hand accounts of those who come to Westminster to share with us the level of persecution that they, their families and their communities have suffered. Those accounts are worth hearing, and they are very disturbing. They demand not just that we listen, but that we act.

The action we take should have an impact on our dealings with the worst-offending states. One of the worst offenders is India, yet the UK Government are writing a blank cheque to that nation when they should be holding it to account for its appalling human rights record. For Christians in the countries named on the world watch list, there is an environment of intolerance, hatred, fear, intimidation, discrimination and violence.

The worst part is that the persecution of Christians is not diminishing. In fact, there is much evidence to suggest that it is growing: 365 million Christians around the world face high levels of persecution. That is one in every seven Christians worldwide. In the top 50 countries on the Open Doors world watch list, 317 million Christians face high, very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination.

For peace-loving and rights-respecting democracies, that demands a response—a practical response. Whatever form it takes—a refusal to trade with states that are guilty of such crimes, a united diplomatic response across the west to elicit change, or diplomatic isolation for the offending nations—more pressure has to be applied. Whatever approaches western democracies have already taken to address the matter have not brought about the necessary change. The problem is getting worse, the repression is getting worse and the violence is getting worse. Other approaches should be considered. We cannot pass by on the other side.

Like everyone else here, I am keen to hear what new approaches the Minister believes the UK and other western democracies could take to make it clear, or clearer, to these barbaric and repressive regimes that human rights must be respected for all peoples. To quote one of the people who attended the world watch list event in Parliament:

“Why should practising one’s faith come at such a high and unjust cost?”