Thank you! 102 MPs at parliamentary launch of World Watch List 2025

At the parliamentary launch of the World Watch List 2025, MPs heard from speakers from Bangladesh, East Africa and Nigeria.

102 MPs came to the parliamentary launch of the World Watch List 2025 on 15 January – which means, thanks to your invitations, that many MPs have heard how crucial it is to respond to escalating religious persecution. Thank you! The event was particularly important this year, as about half the MPs who attended were newly elected last year. You can find out, at the bottom of this blog post, if your MP attended.

At the launch, co-hosted by Bishop Philip Mounstephen and the Rt Hon. Sir Stephen Timms MP, parliamentarians and others heard first-hand accounts of persecution from Christians from Nigeria, Bangladesh and East Africa.

“What part are we playing?”

Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors UK and Ireland, opened the launch by sharing some of the headline trends of persecution that are revealed in the World Watch List 2025 report.

“This year, Open Doors research finds that more than 380 million Christians face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith,” she said. “That is an increase of 15 million since last year and represents one in seven Christians globally.”

Henrietta Blyth confirmed that North Korea was, once again, the most dangerous country for believers – but far from the only place where Christians face intensifying persecution: “Rising authoritarianism – particularly in Central Asia – sees Christians being hounded by governments who want to stifle public criticism and peaceful dissent,” Blyth told the MPs.

Among the other notable findings from Open Doors research, Blyth also highlighted increasing persecution in Yemen (now #3 on the World Watch List) under rising Houthi rebel power, the millions of Christians displaced by persecution in sub-Saharan Africa, and countries including Algeria and Afghanistan where the church has been driven totally underground.

Blyth concluded by sharing a video of the World Watch List top 10, with a challenge to the audience of parliamentarians: “As you watch this and listen to tesimonies from Christians in Bangladesh and sub-Saharan Africa, I have one question for you: what part are we called to play in addressing this?”

Eti shares the situation for Bangladeshi Christians

Local partner Eti* followed, with a first-hand testimony of her experiences as a persecuted Bangladeshi Christian. “Bangladesh’s constitution protects my fundamental right to freely profess, practise and propagate religion,” she told the listening MPs. “However, what we have been experiencing in our daily lives there varies greatly. […] Christians face restrictions, discrimination and attacks, with converts to Christianity bearing the brunt of this.”

She shared a story from last September, where villagers attacked Christians leading a children’s fellowship group for local believers. “The mob subjected the evangelists to a brutal beating, then handed them over to the local police station,” she told the MPs. “For the whole night, these wounded evangelists were at the local police station without receiving any medical attention.” The police then asked for a bribe, to prevent a charge of blasphemy.

As Eti emphasised, this one incident is representative of many more. She concluded, “Please, use your voice as members of parliament to call out instances of persecution, violence and discrimination arising out of inciting speech and ensure that all the perpetrators are held accountable. God bless you all.”

A crisis in sub-Saharan Africa

Turning attention to Africa, the parliamentarians were shown Pastor Barnabas’s powerful testimony from Nigeria. His family are among the millions of believers who have been displaced by violence and conflict in sub-Saharan Africa – and, as he says, “Nobody is talking about it.”

Yasin*, field director for East Africa, then spoke about the situation in Sudan. “As of now, over 12 million Sudanese are displaced, with 8.8 million internally displaced – equivalent to the population of London,” he said. “Christians are often denied access to humanitarian aid in the country as the distribution groups often discriminate against Christian communities.

“The churches and Christian communities in Sudan are in a crossroads of survival and extinction due to the intense war as well as persecution.”

He added: “As Members of Parliament, please use your voice to ensure UK aid reaches all groups within Sudan regardless of their religion and Christians are not denied access to this aid.”

MPs impacted and keen for change

The event closed with some words from David Smith MP, who has recently been appointed to the crucial role of Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief. “Seeing the range of people from across parliament is such a great encouragement,” he said. “It’s a fixture in the parliamentary calendar, and that’s a testimony to the importance of the work that Open Doors does – and also to the importance of freedom of religion or belief.

“These freedoms of religion or belief go right to the core values of what it means to be British. These freedoms, which we take for granted, are ones we should share with our international partners around the world. We mustn’t shy away from that.

“We’ve got to recommit ourselves to tackling persecution in every way that we can.”

Many parliamentarians at the event shared how impactful they found the stories and statistics shared, their appreciation for constituents who invite MPs to the World Watch List launch, and their hope and intention that parliament can act in response.

“The work that you do for the World Watch List is really important,” said Preet Kaur Gill MP. “The Foreign Office, and many government departments, could be raising these issues. Governments must do more, making sure that – whether it’s through trade, whether it’s relationships and partnerships – whatever we do, that we are highlighting, and getting commitments for, what is a human right.”

She added, “Many people don’t know that this sort of thing actually happens. So the World Watch List is really integral and important to educating all of us, but also making sure that we speak up and we use our voice, for people that want to practise their freedom of religion.”

“Freedom of religion and belief matters because, if we care about human rights, we have to care about them in every part of the world,” said Tim Farron MP. “Very often, religious freedoms are the first to go. The UK needs to be aware of this, which is why the World Watch List is so important.”

“The World Watch List gives us all a focus,” said Carla Lockhart MP. “It lets us see which countries we really need to pray for – and raise in parliament. Not just as parliamentarians, but for our many constituents who support the work of Open Doors. I want to thank all my constituents who reached out to invite me to this event.”

“The work of Open Doors in highlighting this issue is really important – I got a significant amount of communication about it,” said James Naish MP. “I’d like to say thank you to my constituents for reaching out to me. It does make a difference. MPs do monitor their inbox and they want to respond to it and make sure that they are reflecting their constituents’ wishes.”

Caroline Nokes MP agrees. “Many of my constituents have been in touch to express their concerns about the loss of religious freedom globally,” she shared on social media.

Was your MP at the launch?

Thank you to everyone who invited your MP. Whether or not they were able to attend the event, your invitation helps show how important the issue of religious freedom is. Here’s a list of those who supported the launch of the World Watch List 2025:

*Names changed for security reasons