Global Analysis
Marta Petrosillo
Religious freedom is a human right, enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If religious freedom is denied to one, it is potentially denied to all. This principle lies at the heart of our shared humanity—and yet, as this Report reveals, it is more often a luxury than a guarantee.
The 2023–2024 biennium has been marked by deepening global turmoil—geopolitical conflicts, authoritarian retrenchment, rising inequality, and the slow erosion of democratic norms. The outbreak of the war between Hamas and Israel in October 2023 ignited a new wave of violence across the Middle East, with significant repercussions for international diplomacy and regional power dynamics. At the same time, the ongoing war in Ukraine showed no signs of resolution, further straining East–West relations and exacerbating the global energy and food crises. In Africa, a succession of military coups—combined with the withdrawal of international peacekeeping forces from countries such as Mali and the Central African Republic—facilitated the further expansion of jihadist violence throughout the Sahel and beyond. Meanwhile, mounting tensions in the Indo-Pacific, particularly around Taiwan and the South China Sea, underscored the intensifying strategic rivalry between the United States and China.
Religious freedom has not escaped this upheaval. Across continents, from dense urban centres to forgotten rural landscapes, individuals and communities continue to face threats for practising, professing or even merely identifying with certain beliefs.
In this 2025 edition of the Religious Freedom in the World Report, we investigate the complex, interwoven narratives that define current threats to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Report classifies countries into four categories based on the severity of religious freedom violations. Persecution refers to grave and repeated acts of violence or harassment, often carried out with impunity. Discrimination involves legal or social restrictions that unfairly target specific religious groups. Under Observation includes countries showing early warning signs of serious violations, requiring close monitoring. All remaining countries are deemed compliant, showing no significant breaches and generally respect international standards on freedom of religion or belief.
This edition’s categorisation highlights
the severity of the situation:
◀ 24 countries are under Persecution, suffering oppression or violent suppression.
◀ 38 countries suffer Discrimination, with legal
and social pressures curbing
the exercise of faith.
◀ 24 countries are Under Observation, revealing early signs of emerging threats.
According to the 2025 report, 62 countries are classified as experiencing either religious persecution or discrimination. Together, they are home to approximately 5.4 billion people, representing 64.7 percent of the global population. This means that almost two out of every three people worldwide live in countries where religious freedom is seriously restricted.
Persecution
According to the Report, 24 countries are classified as experiencing religious persecution, including populous nations like India and China, and conflict-ridden or authoritarian States such as Afghanistan, Nigeria, North Korea, and Eritrea. Together, these countries are home to around 4.1 billion people—over half of the global population—who live under serious violations of religious freedom.
The nature of persecution varies across different contexts. In eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Libya, Maldives, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan and Yemen — it results from a combination of authoritarian governance and religious extremism. In seven others — China, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan — persecution is primarily driven by authoritarian state control. Another seven countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo — are affected mainly by religious extremism. Finally, in India and Myanmar, a combination of authoritarianism and ethno-religious nationalism underpins the prevailing forms of persecution.
Discrimination
The 2025 Report identifies 38 countries as experiencing religious discrimination. These include nations such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico, Türkiye and Vietnam, where religious minorities face legal, political, or social restrictions that limit their freedom of belief and worship. Together, these countries account for approximately 1.3 billion people—around 17.3 percent of the global population. While not facing outright persecution, many individuals endure systematic discrimination, such as limited access to places of worship, constraints on religious expression, or unequal legal treatment.
The root causes of discrimination vary. In 28 countries, a single dominant factor prevails. Authoritarianism is the most frequent, affecting 24 countries including Algeria, Malaysia, Venezuela, and Türkiye, where state control curtails religious pluralism. In Chad, discrimination is driven by religious extremism, while in Haiti and Mexico it is linked to organised crime. Ethno-religious nationalism is the primary driver in Nepal.
In 10 other countries, discrimination results from a combination of factors. In Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Syria and Thailand, a mix of authoritarian governance and religious extremism is present. In Israel and Palestine, ethno-religious nationalism and extremism intersect to undermine religious freedom. In Sri Lanka, discrimination stems from both authoritarianism and ethno-religious nationalism.
Under Observation
Twenty-four countries are classified as “under observation” due to emerging threats to religious freedom. These include Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, and Belarus, and represent more than 750 million people—roughly 9.3 percent of the global population. Though not currently experiencing significant persecution or discrimination, these nations show early warning signs such as growing authoritarianism, weakening legal safeguards, or rising religious intolerance. Their inclusion highlights the need for close monitoring and preventive action. Notably, Mexico, Russia and Ukraine, previously under observation in 2023, has now shifted to the Discrimination category, underscoring a worsening trend regarding violations of religious freedom.
Authoritarian control and legal repression
A striking regional pattern emerges in Latin America, where many of the countries currently classified under Discrimination or Persecution—including Cuba, Haiti, Messico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—as well as Bolivia, Chile, Colombia and Honduras, all placed under Observation, share political or ideological alignment with the São Paulo Forum. This transnational coalition of leftist parties and movements has often been associated with authoritarian tendencies, restrictions on civil liberties, and ideological control over public institutions. In such contexts, religious freedom is frequently undermined by the politicisation of religion, pressure on Churches perceived as critical of government actions, and constraints on faith-based organisations engaged in education, humanitarian work or social advocacy. The correlation suggests that the erosion of democratic safeguards and the rise of ideological rigidity may be factors contributing to the deterioration of religious freedom across the region (see main topic The Cuban model and its export to Venezuela and Nicaragua).
In other regions too, governments continue to weaponise law and bureaucracy to control or suppress religious expression. In Asia, China’s intensified sinicisation campaigns subjugate Uyghur Muslims and Christian congregations under ideological conformity. New 2024 regulations mandate that all religious venues align explicitly with socialist values, while Tibetan and Muslim communities suffer renaming of villages, detentions, and destruction of worship spaces. Particularly concerning are laws that prohibit religious education for minors and restrict their participation in religious services (see case study on China: Legal Restrictions on Religious Education for Minors). North Korea maintains an absolute ban on religious expression. In Vietnam and Laos, Christian minorities, especially among indigenous groups, endure forced renunciation, destroyed churches, and even assassinations of pastors—with no legal protection. In both Iran and Turkmenistan, religious groups operate under constant state surveillance, while unregistered communities face the persistent risk of arrest, harassment or forced closure.
New and different faces of jihadism
Religious extremism remains one of the primary drivers of persecution worldwide. In recent years, jihadist movements have expanded their reach and diversified their strategies, increasingly adapting to local contexts and grievances. While Africa and the Middle East continue to serve as the main epicentres of jihadist activity, significant developments have also been observed in Asia, particularly following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. Jihadist groups increasingly adapt to local contexts, combining regional autonomy with varying levels of central coordination, as seen in the Islamic State’s evolving operations (see main topic on The evolution of jihadism). Groups have also exploited crises for mobilisation, notably the 2023 Hamas-Israel conflict. In early 2025, the Institute for the Study of War warned of ISIS’s resurgence in Syria, where shifting counterterrorism priorities and security vacuums are enabling its re-emergence in the post-Assad landscape. In Western countries, the threat now stems from decentralised networks and lone actors.
Religious freedom as a casualty of war
In many regions affected by armed conflict—such as the Sahel, Syria, Myanmar or Ukraine—religious communities often suffer targeted violence. Terrorist groups, including Boko Haram, Islamic State affiliates, and al-Shabaab, continue to use religion as a pretext for violence, particularly against Christians and Muslims who reject the extremist ideology. In these areas, religious freedom cannot be separated from broader violations of human rights, displacement, and the collapse of state institutions.
Conflict zones reveal religious freedom’s fragility. In the Sahel, jihadist groups—affiliates of ISIS and al‑Qaeda—have escalated attacks on all faith groups. In Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, violent attacks uproot entire communities, provoking mass displacement and dismantling communal worship (see main topic on Fleeing from religiously motivated persecution and discrimination and the case study Rollo, Burkina Faso – Forced displacement of a Christian community). Nigeria has experienced a sharp rise in religiously motivated violence, especially in the North and the Middle Belt. Armed groups like Boko Haram, ISWAP, and radicalised Fulani herdsmen have targeted churches, villages and religious leaders, leading to widespread displacement, land seizures, and attacks on Christian communities (see the backgrounder on Fulani and Jihadism in Africa: Between Legacy and Manipulation). In the Horn of Africa, war in Sudan is unleashing one of history’s largest displacement crises; places of worship are repurposed for combat, clergy detained and forced conversions reported. In Somalia death is imposed for apostasy and Ethiopia sees religious sites destroyed amid ethnic conflict, pushing faith leaders into hiding.
Meanwhile, the Israel–Hamas conflict has devastated Gaza’s religious infrastructure and deepened fissures within Israeli society. Both sides face accusations of war crimes, while religious tourism—vital for local Christian communities—has collapsed. Jewish-Muslim communal tensions are being exacerbated by incendiary nationalist rhetoric and religious symbolism.
The Ukraine war has worsened religious freedom violations on both sides: Russia has repressed pro-Ukrainian groups, Ukraine has targeted Moscow-linked churches, and both have punished conscientious objectors. In Azerbaijan, the 2023 takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh ethnically cleansed 120,000 Armenian Christians and was followed by the widespread destruction of Christian heritage.
Organised crime: faith at gunpoint
In environments lacking effective state control, criminal groups often regulate religious life. In various unstable regions of Latin America, churches are looted, religious leaders kidnapped, and worship services scheduled or mediated by drug cartels. In Haiti’s failed State, priests and religious sisters are primary targets for ransom kidnappings, while churches have become outposts of survival in lawless territories. In Mexico, an increasing number of priests are being killed (see the case study on Between bullets and blessings). In Ecuador and Guatemala, cults symbiotically linked to criminal gangs further entangle religious practice with violence.
Similarly, in parts of sub-Saharan Africa—including, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—religious leaders and faith communities have suffered deadly violence and continue to face serious threats from organised crime and non-state militias.
One Nation, One Faith? Religion as a Marker of National Identity
In several countries today, religion is increasingly used to define national identity, fuelling the exclusion and marginalisation of minority groups. India exemplifies a model of “hybrid persecution”, combining state-led legal suppression with social violence. Hindu nationalist policies under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have steadily eroded constitutional protections. In 2024 alone, Christians suffered 834 attacks, NGOs were targeted under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, and arrests under anti-conversion laws rose sharply—further restricting religious freedom (see the case study on Anti-conversion laws in India).
Nepal’s emerging anti-conversion narrative has also led to the harassment of pastors and arrests for evangelism. In Myanmar, political repression, ethnic identity, and religious affiliation are deeply interwoven. The State’s Bamar-Buddhist framework positions itself as the defender of national unity, while ethnic and religious minorities are subject to systematic repression and often accused of separatism. This dynamic creates a cycle of mistrust, marginalisation and violence that continues to fracture Burmese society. (See the backgrounder on The Myanmar Triangle: Political, Ethnic and Religious Groups.)
In several Muslim-majority countries, religious freedom remains heavily restricted due to the interpretation and enforcement of Islamic law. Where Shari‘a is applied in ways that marginalise religious minorities, fundamental rights are severely curtailed. In Iran, Christians have been arrested for attending private house church gatherings. In Pakistan, blasphemy accusations—frequently aimed at non-Muslims—have led to mob violence and judicial prosecution. In Afghanistan, apostasy is still punishable by death (see the backgrounder Law, Power, and Practice in the Muslim World: The Many Faces of Shari‘a).
Twice vulnerable: women of religious minorities
Grave violations continue to be perpetrated against women from religious minorities, who face compounded vulnerabilities due to both their gender and their faith. In Pakistan, cases of abduction, forced conversion, and coerced marriage involving Hindu and Christian girls remain alarmingly widespread. In January 2023, UN experts urged the Pakistani government to take action, highlighting the severe impact of these practices on religious freedom and children’s rights. Yet such abuses persist. In 2025, 12-year-old Ariha Gulzar and 10-year-old Laiba Suhail were kidnapped, converted, and married, with falsified documents and ongoing threats against their families. Only sustained legal pressure eventually led to arrests.
In Egypt the number of disappearances involving underage Christian girls has risen sharply. Families report abductions, conversions, and customary marriages. More than 30 such cases were documented in 2024, pointing to a deeply troubling and escalating trend.
Clashing freedoms: religion in the age of ideological conformity
In some democratic countries, legal rulings and public policies have increasingly placed religious freedom in tension with other fundamental rights or purported rights. This dynamic is particularly evident in Western and Latin American contexts, where secular ideologies often clash with traditional religious norms. The 2024 report of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) drew criticism for portraying religious freedom as potentially conflicting with anti-discrimination rights.
Even in societies with strong constitutional safeguards—such as those in the OSCE region—conscientious objection has come under increasing pressure, especially in relation to military service and abortion (see the case study on The Diminishing Right of Conscientious Objection). Legal frameworks and prevailing cultural expectations are progressively prioritising competing real or alleged rights over religious liberty.
Hostility toward religion has intensified across several regions: in Canada, Catholic churches have been targeted by arson attacks, in Spain, Greece, and Croatia, religious symbols and processions have come under ideological assault and in Belgium, religious leaders have faced penalties for refusing female ordination. Following the Gaza conflict, hate incidents against Jews and Muslims surged across Europe, while attacks on Christians continued.
In Western OSCE States, hostility against Christians is often underreported due to lacking documentation. This gap weakens policy responses, normalises hostility, fosters unequal treatment, and increases the vulnerability of Christian communities (see the backgrounder on Polite Persecution: The Sin of Omission).
Yet notable exceptions remain. Courts in the United Kingdom and the United States have upheld religious rights in key cases involving freedom of speech and employment protections, demonstrating that democratic systems can still offer meaningful safeguards for freedom of religion when judicial independence is maintained.
Beyond the screen: digital persecution and the future of religious freedom
The digital sphere has introduced powerful tools of repression. In many countries, religious content is censored online, and individuals face arrest for social media posts. Authoritarian regimes use surveillance technologies to monitor religious expression, often labelling minorities as extremists. In China and Russia, online dissent is filtered and punished, while religious platforms are blocked. Extremist groups also exploit digital tools to incite violence and spread propaganda. Social media is weaponised to silence minorities, spread hate speech, and fuel polarisation. In Pakistan, blasphemy accusations, often baseless, are increasingly tied to online posts. Organised networks track digital activity and call for government intervention or incite mob violence. A 2023 report by the Ministry of Religious Affairs, using data from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency, recorded over 400,000 complaints, highlighting how digital surveillance facilitates religious repression.
The potential for Artificial Intelligence to be used in the manipulation and repression of believers is both vast and deeply troubling. In North Korea, reports indicate that authorities enforce a surveillance system that captures a screenshot from every phone every five minutes, storing the images for state monitoring. The immense capabilities of AI must be governed by meaningful human oversight and ethical safeguards, so that its deployment upholds human dignity and contributes to the protection of freedom of thought, conscience, and religion in all its dimensions (See the backgrounder on A change of era: Religious freedom in the age of artificial intelligence).
Seeds of hope: standing for religious freedom
Despite escalating threats, religious communities continue to play a vital role in advancing peace, dialogue, and human dignity. Faith-based organisations often lead humanitarian responses, defend human rights, and support displaced populations. In conflict-affected regions—across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America—religious leaders offer both moral guidance and concrete assistance. In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado, the Church has become a pillar of support and interreligious dialogue amid jihadist violence (see the case study The Church’s Active Role in Cabo Delgado). In countries like Burkina Faso, local initiatives are fostering interreligious dialogue even in the face of extremist threats (see the case study Burkina Faso: The Peace Match).
Education too plays a decisive role in this effort, promoting social cohesion, affirming dignity, and empowering minorities both culturally and socio-economically (see the backgrounder Educating for Freedom: Teaching Tolerance, Empowering Minorities).
Finally, Pope Francis was one of the most authoritative voices globally in the defence of dialogue and religious freedom (see the backgrounder Pope Francis and Religious Freedom: A Right for Peace).
Yet for these signs of hope to translate into lasting change, a collective and sustained commitment is essential. The defence and promotion of religious freedom cannot rest solely on the shoulders of religious leaders or civil society actors—it must involve governments, institutions, educators, and individuals alike. Religious freedom is a shared responsibility. We must all raise our voices to demand the urgent protection of freedom of religion and conscience around the world, as guaranteed by Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. Religious freedom must be guaranteed for all. Religious freedom is a human right, not a privilege.
