India climbs up in the list of worst persecutors of Christians

For years India had ranked No. 30 on the 'World Watch' list of countries that are the worst persecutors of Christians. This year it moved to No. 22 due to the escalating violence on Christians in different parts of the nation.

The Open Doors World Watch 2009 report saw North Korea on the top spot followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran (No. 3), Afghanistan (No. 4), Somalia (No. 5), Maldives (No. 6), Yemen (No. 7), Laos (No. 8), Eritrea (No. 9) and Uzbekistan (No. 10).

Dr. Carl Moeller, Open Doors USA president says, "India jumped up from number 30 in 2008 to number 22 in the list in 2009 because of the increasing violence against Christians, primarily in the state of Orissa." Things have changed in the country, he adds.

Moeller hopes the World Watch list keeps Christians better informed and educated about persecuted Christians.

"What Christians can do, first of all, is to use this World Watch List as a way to become informed -- to actually learn the names of some of the countries around the world where Christians are horribly persecuted, and to pray for them," he notes. "That's the second thing we can do -- we can pray. We can literally raise our voices to God on behalf of those Christians who are suffering around the world."

The two countries that showed the most improvement in Christian persecution over the past year are Vietnam, which dropped from No. 17 to No. 23, and Columbia, which was dropped from the top 50.