On 25 March 2024, the House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate:

Baroness Foster of Aghadrumsee (non-affiliated) to ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support persecuted Christians around the world.

1. Reports on the persecution of Christians

The charitable organisation Open Doors produces an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face “the most severe persecution” called the ‘World watch list’.[1] It has been compiling the list since 1993.

Open Doors states that there is no international, legal definition of persecution. It says that whilst persecution could be defined as the denial of a person’s rights under article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, it “has opted for a theological rather than a sociological definition” for the purposes of the list. It defines persecution as follows:

Any hostility experienced as a result of one’s identification with Christ. This can include hostile attitudes, words and actions towards Christians.

It describes this as a broad definition that includes, but is not limited to, restrictions, pressure, discrimination, opposition, disinformation, injustice, intimidation, mistreatment, marginalisation, oppression, intolerance, infringement, violation, ostracism, hostilities, harassment, abuse, violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights addresses freedom of thought, conscience and religion:

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.[2]

Based on its analysis, Open Doors found that more than 365 million Christians worldwide “faced high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith”.[3] This represented one in seven Christians globally, one in five in Africa and two in five in Asia. In the top 50 countries covered by the world watch list, “317 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution and discrimination”.[4]

Open Doors’ findings included:[5]

 

  • a seven-fold increase in the number of churches and Christian-run schools, hospitals and cemeteries that were targeted between 2022 and 2023, rising to 14,766
  • that 80% of the 4,998 Christians killed for their faith in 2023 were in Nigeria[6]
  • North Korea was ranked as the most dangerous place in the world for Christians

The House of Commons held a Westminster Hall debate on religious persecution and the 2024 world watch list on 25 January 2024.[7] Responding to the debate, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Rutley said:

The government have long been committed to promoting and protecting freedom of religion for all, but sadly, as the world watch list sets out, many Christians are targeted daily purely for their faith, despite the protections of international law. History has shown us that where freedom of religion or belief is under threat, other human rights are also at risk. We must continue to call out human rights violations and abuses.[8]

The government’s policies on the freedom of religion and belief are discussed further in section 2.

The Pew Research Center, a US-based nonpartisan “fact tank”, published its 14th annual report on international religious freedom and restrictions on 5 March 2024.[9] The report examines the extent to which governments and societies impinge on religious beliefs and practices. It assessed 198 countries. The report found that Christians were harassed by governments or private actors in 160 countries in 2021.[10] This was an increase from 155 in 2020. Christians were found to have been harassed in more countries in 2021 than any other religious group. The Pew Research Center states that Christians and Muslims have generally faced harassment in a larger number of countries than any other group, but it notes that they represent the two largest religious groups in the world. It says that “this figure is not a measure of the severity of harassment, and it should not be interpreted to mean that these religious groups are necessarily the world’s ‘most persecuted’”.

2. Government policy on freedom of religion or belief

The government’s 2021 integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy (the IR2021) set the promotion of freedom of religion or belief as one of the UK’s “priority actions”.[11] The government has said that championing freedom of religion or belief remains a priority for the UK and the government “will continue to recognise, and seek to address, the issue of persecution of Christians globally on account of their faith, alongside the persecution of those of other religions or beliefs”.[12]

2.1 Bishop of Truro’s independent review of government support for persecuted Christians

In January 2019, Jeremy Hunt, then foreign secretary, asked the Bishop of Truro to chair a review to map levels of persecution and other discrimination against Christians around the world.[13] The review was tasked with providing an objective assessment of the levels of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) support and its impact, and to provide recommendations.[14]

The Bishop of Truro’s report was published in July 2019.[15] The report made a number of recommendations to the foreign secretary under the following themes:

  • Strategy and structures: Make freedom of religion or belief (FORB) central to the FCO’s culture, policies and international operations.
  • Education and engagement: Develop a religiously literate local operational approach.
  • Consistency and co-ordination: Strengthen joined up thinking.

Recommendations included:

  • Name the phenomenon of Christian discrimination and persecution and undertake work to identify its particular character alongside similar definitions for other religions, to better inform and develop tailored FCO policies to address these.
  • Establish suitable instruments / roles to monitor and implement such an approach, taking into consideration other international approaches, and specifically establishing permanently, and in perpetuity, the role of special envoy for freedom of religion or belief with appropriate resources and authority to work across FCO departments supported by a director general level champion for FORB.
  • Be prepared to impose sanctions against perpetrators of FORB abuses.
  • Ensure FCO human rights reporting includes Christian persecution, where this is relevant. This will include the FCO ‘Human rights and democracy annual report’, and reporting from posts on human rights taking due account of evidence from civil society.
  • Encourage government departments (with an international focus) to self evaluate their policies on FORB to ensure that they are continually advancing it.[16]

In a written statement made when the review was published, the then foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that he welcomed the report.[17] In answer to a later written question, the government confirmed that it had accepted the recommendations “in full” and would begin to implement them.[18] Implementation of the recommendations of the Truro review was a Conservative Party manifesto commitment in its 2019 manifesto.[19]

The review said that the recommendations should be independently reviewed in three years’ time. An independent assessment was published on 4 July 2022.[20] The independent assessment was conducted by Professor Sir Malcolm Evans, Professor Nazila Ghanea, Professor Ahmed Shaheed, Dr Gehan Gunatilleke and Dr Caroline Roberts and presented to Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, minister for South and Central Asia, North Africa, the United Nations and the Commonwealth.

The independent assessment found that progress had been made in implementing the recommendations, but some had been taken relatively recently:

There has been a positive overall response to the recommendations, with active steps being taken towards implementing an overwhelming majority of them. However, some of those steps have been taken relatively recently.

The assessment team identified several lessons that may be learnt from the FCDO’s experience of implementing the recommendations.[21]

One of the lessons identified by the independent assessment was around building on existing work:

It is recognised that the implementation of the recommendations is (necessarily) diffused. Yet it would have benefitted from more connectivity among those in the FCDO pursuing FORB activities and advancing the recommendations. One of the lessons that emerged from this assessment is the importance of framing policy recommendations in a cumulative manner where feasible, building on existing initiatives. It would also be important for such initiatives to build synergies rather than fragment efforts.[22]

The then foreign secretary, Liz Truss, made a written statement outlining the government’s response to the assessment.[23] In this she said the government would continue to work on embedding changes and that it would continue to champion global work on the freedom of religion and belief. This included hosting an international ministerial conference:

Building on this work, we will continue to ensure that the changes we have made are embedded and to look for opportunities to make FORB central to the FCDO’s wider human rights work. We will do this, working alongside others, to deliver real change for the good, protecting and promoting everyone’s right to freedom of religion or belief.

Our work on this important human rights issue will never be complete, and we will continue to champion global efforts on FORB. As part of that, on 5–6 July this year, the UK will host an international ministerial conference on freedom of religion or belief. We look forward to welcoming partner countries and stakeholders from around the world to London.[24]

A full set of statements that were published following the international ministerial conference on freedom of religion or belief can be found on the government website.[25]

2.2 Government special envoy on freedom of religion or belief

The prime minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief supports the implementation of the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations on FCDO support for persecuted Christians around the world. The envoy also:

  • brings together UK efforts to promote religious tolerance abroad, and works on how the UK government can protect and promote this fundamental freedom internationally
  • works with the members of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to raise awareness of cases of particular concern, advocating for the rights of people worldwide who are discriminated against or persecuted for their faith or belief[26]

The current special envoy, Fiona Bruce (Conservative MP for Congleton), is sponsoring a private member’s bill in the House of Commons—the International Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill 2023–24—which would establish an ‘office of the special envoy’ and require the prime minister to appoint someone to the role. Under clause 1(1) of the bill, the duties of the special envoy would be to:

(a) work to promote and protect international freedom of religion or belief, including by working with the UK Government and with civil society groups;

(b) raise awareness of cases of concern involving persecution or discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief and advocate for the rights of people worldwide who are discriminated against or persecuted for their faith or belief;

(c) work with representatives of other governments, including other Special Envoys, to promote freedom of religion or belief around the world.

Speaking at the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons on 26 January 2024, she said the bill would implement one of the recommendations of the Bishop of Truro’s review:

In 2019 the noble Lord Bishop, then of Truro, was asked to review what more the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office could do to address the persecution of Christians around the world. The Truro review made practical recommendations for an enhanced response to the plight of persecuted Christians. I emphasise that those recommendations also covered people persecuted for holding other religions or beliefs, or no religious beliefs at all, as does my envoy role.

In particular, recommendation 6 was to specifically establish “permanently, and in perpetuity, the role of special envoy for freedom of religion or belief with appropriate resources and authority to work across FCO departments”.

That recommendation, along with the other 21 recommendations, was fully accepted by the government, not least because it was—and remains—this government’s manifesto commitment to fully implement the Truro review.[27]

Responding to the debate on second reading, Andrew Mitchell, minister of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said that the government supported the bill:

The bill underlines our commitment to FORB, and, importantly, supports the implementation of recommendation 6 of the Bishop of Truro’s 2019 review of the FCDO’s work on FORB, which recommended that the role of special envoy for FORB be established “permanently, and in perpetuity”. Implementation of the bishop’s recommendations was, as I have said, a manifesto commitment, and we thank him very much showing location for his work. As was mentioned by the hon. member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Catherine West), there will be opportunities during the bill’s passage to consider any possible amendments to improve it, and my officials and I will work with my hon. friend the member for Congleton in that regard; but the government will support the bill today.[28]

3. Read more


Cover image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay

References

  1. Open Doors, ‘How does Open Doors create the world watch list?’, accessed 12 March 2024. Return to text
  2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, article 18. Return to text
  3. Open Doors, ‘World watch list 2024’, accessed 12 March 2024. Return to text
  4. Open Doors, ‘World watch list 2024: The cost of collapse and the cost of control—advocacy report 2024’, January 2024, p 3. Return to text
  5. Open Doors, ‘World watch list: Trends’, accessed 12 March 2024. Return to text
  6. The House of Commons recently held a debate on freedom of religion and belief in Nigeria: HC Hansard, 6 February 2024, cols 1–19WH. Return to text
  7. HC Hansard, 25 January 2024, cols 187–210WH. Return to text
  8. HC Hansard, 25 January 2024, col 205WH. Return to text
  9. Pew Research Center, ‘Globally, government restrictions on religion reached peak levels in 2021, while social hostilities went down’, 5 March 2024. Return to text
  10. As above, p 29. Return to text
  11. HM Government, ‘Global Britain in a competitive age: The integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy’, March 2021, CP 403, p 48. Return to text
  12. House of Commons, ‘Written question: Christianity (10298)’, 26 January 2024. Return to text
  13. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ‘Persecution of Christians across the globe independent review: Foreign secretary’s launch speech’, 30 January 2019. The then Bishop of Truro, Philip Ian Mounstephen, has sat in the Lords as the Lord Bishop of Winchester since November 2023. Return to text
  14. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ‘Independent review of FCO support for persecuted Christians, commissioned by the foreign secretary: Terms of reference’, 8 February 2019. Return to text
  15. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ‘Press release: Review into Christian persecution catalyst for action’, 8 July 2019. Return to text
  16. Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, ‘Bishop of Truro’s independent review for the foreign secretary of FCO support for persecuted Christians: Final report and recommendations’, July 2019, pp 130–3. Return to text
  17. House of Commons, ‘Written statement: Independent Review of Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians (HCWS1698)’, 8 July 2019. Return to text
  18. House of Lords, ‘Written question: Persecution of Christians across the globe independent review (HL17021)’, 23 July 2019. Return to text
  19. Conservative Party, ‘Conservative Party Manifesto 2019’, November 2019, p 53. Return to text
  20. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians: Assessment of recommendations’ implementation’, 4 July 2022. Return to text
  21. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Assessment of the implementation of recommendations of Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians’, 4 July 2022, para 4. Return to text
  22. As above, para 4.2. Return to text
  23. House of Commons, ‘Written statement: Independent report on the implementation of the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations (HCWS174)’, 4 July 2022. Return to text
  24. As above. Return to text
  25. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief 2022: Conference statements’, 5 July 2022. See also: House of Lords, Written statement: ‘International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief: London 2022 (HLWS204)’, 15 July 2022. Return to text
  26. HM Government, ‘Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief Fiona Bruce MP’, accessed 12 March 2024. Return to text
  27. HC Hansard, 26 January 2024, col 564. Return to text
  28. HC Hansard, 26 January 2024, cols 573–4. Return to text