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Persecution of Christians worldwide – how to tackle the issue

Motion for a resolution | Doc. 14873 | 11 April 2019

Signatories:
Mr Pavlo UNHURIAN, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Titus CORLĂŢEAN, Romania, SOC ; Ms Yolaine de COURSON, France, NR ; Mr Constantinos EFSTATHIOU, Cyprus, SOC ; Mr Bernard FOURNIER, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Frank HEINRICH, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Viktor IELENSKYI, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhii KIRAL, Ukraine, EC ; Mr Jiři KOBZA, Czech Republic, NR ; Mr Jérôme LAMBERT, France, SOC ; Ms Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Frédéric REISS, France, EPP/CD ; Mr Ruben RUBINYAN, Armenia, NR ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Davor Ivo STIER, Croatia, EPP/CD ; Mr Vladimir VARDANYAN, Armenia, NR ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Ms Martine WONNER, France, NR ; Ms Naira ZOHRABYAN, Armenia, EC

The Parliamentary Assembly has expressed several times serious concerns about the situation of persecuted Christians in the Middle East – Recommendation 2055 (2014) and Recommendation 1957 (2011). A motion for a resolution was tabled in January 2019 about the continuing violence against Christians in the Middle East, engaging the Assembly to raise its voice and properly address this issue.

However, Christian persecution remains a worldwide issue, a growing problem in several regions of the world. In its 2019 World Watch List report, the NGO Open Doors states that more than 245 million Christians face high level of persecution in 73 countries. Persecution is actually growing faster in Africa and in South-East Asia than in the Middle East, as 97% of the Christians killed for their faith were murdered in Africa.

The Assembly’s mission is to uphold the values of human rights, such as freedom of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression and freedom of association. Therefore, the Assembly should:

  • establish a precise and updated statistical report on the situation of persecuted Christians in the world;
  • commission a review into the member States’ best practices in order to promote religious freedom internationally;
  • take coordinated measures and call the member States to adopt the best practices to tackle the worldwide issue of religious persecution, faced by millions of Christians.