ENDNOTES
1 Samirah Majumdar and Vivian Jacobs, "Harassment of religious groups around the world in 2023," Pew Research Center , June 15, 2026 https:// www.pewresearch.org/religion/2026/06/15/harassment-of-religious- groups-around-the-world-in-2023/ [accessed 07/10/26] . 2021 is cited as the point of comparison, as this is the data used in the last edition of Persecuted and Forgotten? 2 Global Terrorism Index 2025 : Measuring the Impact of Terrorism (Institute for Economics & Peace, 2025), p. 6 https://www.economicsandpeace.org/ wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Global-Terrorism-Index-2026-Report.pdf [accessed 07/10/26] . 3 Ibid. 4 “Why The Sahel Remains the Epicenter of Global Terrorism," Cisa Newsletter https://cisanewsletter.com/index.php/why-the-sahel-remains- the-epicenter-of-global-terrorism/ [accessed 07/10/26] . 5 Marta Petrosillo, “Sub-Saharan Africa," Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025 https://acninternational.org/religiousfreedomreport/reports/ regional/2025/sub-saharan-africa [accessed 07/10/26] . 6 African Countries Most Affected by Terrorism, Africa View Facts , March 11, 2025 https://africaviewfacts.com/stories/african-countries-most-affected- by-terrorism/ [accessed 07/10/26] . 7 John Newton, “Shell-shocked parish prepares for Christmas” ACN (UK) News , 02/12/25 https://acnuk.org/news/2025/12/02/shell-shocked-parish- prepares-christmas?srsltid=AfmBOorhkoOngyL6KoQHYonOa2faGSuVQIP8 qcW4tseLPtEJAO6y4UAr [accessed 06/10/26] . 8 Sultan Al-Khulaifi, “Iran’s strike on the Gulf: Burning the bridges of good neighborliness” Al Jazeera , March 7, 2026 https://www.aljazeera.com/ opinions/2026/3/7/irans-strikes-on-the-gulf-burning-the-bridges-of-good- neighborliness [accessed 06/10/26]. 9 Amy Balog and Maria Lozano, “At least 20 killed in suicide attack at Damascus church” ACN (UK) News , March 23, 2025 https://
25 A difficult figure to determine: around 40 percent is given in “Country Analysis: Burkina Faso," Acaps https://www.acaps.org/en/countries/ burkina-faso ; up to 60% is given in “Could JNIM Eventually Control Burkina Faso?" ADF , November 18, 2025 https://adf-magazine. com/2025/11/could-jnim-eventually-control-burkina-faso/ ; state only controls 30% given in “A Growing Divergence of Security Narratives in Burkina Faso," Africa Center for Strategic Studies , August 26, 2025 https:// africacenter.org/spotlight/security-narratives-burkina-faso/ ; up to 80% given in Monika Pronczuk, “They fled from extremists. Now the government in Burkina Faso tries to hide their existence," AP , January 7, 2025 [all sites accessed 06/01/26] . 26 USCIRF, Freedom of Religion or Belief in the Sahelian Countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Chad , October 2025, p. 2 https://www.uscirf.gov/ sites/default/files/2025%20Issue%20Update%20Sahel_0.pdf [unless noted all below sites for Burkina Faso accessed 02/20/26] . 27 Nathalie Raffray, “Teenagers pulled off bus and shot as violence escalates," ACN (UK) News , October 31, 2025 https://acnuk.org/news/2025/10/31/ burkina-faso-teenagers-pulled-bus-and-shot-violence-escalates 28 Giovanni Carbone and Camillo Casola (eds.), “Sahel: 10 Years of Instability — Local, Regional and International Dynamics," ISPI , October 10, 2022 https://www.ispionline.it/sites/default/files/10_years_ instability_sahel_report.ispi_.2022_0.pdf [accessed 10/07/25] . 29 Sina Hartet and Maria Lozano, “ACN denounces new Islamist massacres in Burkina Faso," Aid to the Church in Need (International) , August 30, 2024 https://acninternational.org/acn-denounces-new-islamist-massacres-in- burkina-faso/ [accessed 10/07/25] . 30 Nathalie Raffray, “If the enemy was thinking of snuffing out Christianity, it’s wasting its time," ACN (UK) News , December 18, 2025 https://acnuk. org/news/2025/12/18/burkina-faso-if-enemy-was-thinking-snuffing-out- christianity-its-wasting-its-time 31 Nathalie Raffray, “Teenagers pulled off bus and shot as violence escalates," ACN (UK) News , October 31, 2025 https://acnuk.org/news/2025/10/31/ burkina-faso-teenagers-pulled-bus-and-shot-violence-escalates 32 “Temples, churches, schools, monasteries destroyed: the wounds of war on communities of believers," Fides , November 11, 2025 https://www. fides.org/en/news/77021-ASIA_MYANAMAR_Temples_churches_schools_ monasteries_destroyed_the_wounds_of_war_on_communities_of_ believers; “A Catholic church hit by bombing in Chin State," Fides , February 10, 2025 https://www.fides.org/en/news/76014-ASIA_ MYANMAR_A_Catholic_church_hit_by_bombing_in_Chin_State [Both sites accessed 05/28/26] . 33 See John Pontifex and John Newton, Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2011-2013 (ACN, 2013), p. 28. 34 John Cosenza, “The Rise of Buddhist Ethnonationalism and Military Impunity in Myanmar," International Christian Concern , February 7, 2020 https://www.persecution.org/2020/02/07/rise-buddhist- ethnonationalism-military-impunity-myanmar/ [accessed 05/28/26] . 35 USCIRF 2025 Annual Report , p. 15 https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/ files/2025-03/2025%20USCIRF%20Annual%20Report.pdf [accessed 03/30/26] . 36 “Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Kill 41 Civilians at Monastery and Market," The Irrawaddy , March 17, 2025 https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/ myanmar-junta-airstrikes-kill-41-civilians-at-monastery-and-market. html [accessed 03/30/26] ; “Myanmar Junta Airstrikes Leave 100 Dead This Month," The Irrawaddy , March 28, 2025 https://www.irrawaddy.com/ news/burma/myanmar-junta-airstrikes-leave-100-dead-this-month.html [accessed 05/28/26] . 37 USCIRF 2026 Annual Report , p. 20 https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/ files/2026-03/USCIRF_2026_AR_3326_NEW.pdf? [accessed 07/01/26] . 38 Burma: Severe Violations of Religious Freedom Against Christians (Burma Research Institute, 2026), p. 6 https://burmari.org/wp-content/ uploads/2026/01/Burma-Severe-Violations-of-Religious-Freedom- Against-Christians-January-2026.pdf [accessed 07/01/26] . 39 See testimony given to USCIRF by a Baptist pastor from Chin State: https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Ethnic%20Chin%20Pastor%20 Testimony.pdf [accessed 05/28/26] . 40 “Military sets fire to Cathedral in Kachin State amid escalating attacks on Christians," CSW , March 20, 2025. 41 Naw Htoi, “ ကချင်မှာ ခရစ္စမတ်ပွဲစောစီးစွာကျင်းပကဖို့ စစ်ကောင်စီအမိန့် ပေးထား ," Kachin News Group , December 5, 2025 https://burmese. kachinnews.com/2025/12/05/zz1-324/ [accessed 02/02/26] . 42 “WCC condemns violence against communities in Myanmar," World Council of Churches , February 17, 2026 https://www.oikoumene.org/ news/wcc-condemns-violence-against-communities-in-myanmar [accessed 03/30/26] . 43 Tola Mbakwe, “‘A spiritual battle’: Myanmar Christians face renewed violence and oppression under military regime," Premier News , March 26, 2026 https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/a-spiritual-battle- myanmar-christians-face-violence-and-oppression-under-military-regime [accessed 05/28/26] cf. Unsafe State: State-Sanctioned Sexual Violence Against Chin Women in Burma (Women's League of Chinland, 2007). 44 “Influential China church reports arrests as crackdown on Christians intensifies," BBC News (Online) , January 8, 2026 https://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/articles/ckgl8jgdxypo [accessed 02/04/26] .
acnuk.org/news/2025/06/23/syria-least-20-killed-suicide- attack-damascus-church?srsltid=AfmBOor_njfVnDBYXsnqoTn- qpEyohZ5sGiVVJ4JS3RmOEKAkNzsyueL [accessed 06/10/26] .
10 Aaron Y. Zelin, “Christians in the New Syria: Accepted, But At-Risk” The Washington Institute for Near East Policy , December 9, 2025 https://www. washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/christians-new-syria-accepted- risk [accessed 06/10/26] . 11 Ibid. 12 Stella Martany, “Powerful Iran-backed militias in Iraq say they will start handing in weapons to authorities," Associated Press , June 2, 2026 https:// apnews.com/article/iraq-iran-us-shiite-militia-asaib-ahl-alhaq-0f1747e05 dc1384ab988da4d8eb74008 [accessed 06/10/26] . 13 “One Million People Displaced across Lebanon in just Two Weeks; Children in Need of Urgent Support, warns IRC," International Rescue Committee , March 19, 2026 https://www.rescue.org/uk/press-release/one-million- people-displaced-across-lebanon-just-two-weeks-children-need-urgent [accessed 06/10/26] . 14 Kevin Clarke, “Archbishop Warda on Iran War; a refuge for Christians in Iraq now under threat," America , March 12, 2026 https://www. americamagazine.org/politics-society/weekly- 15 “We’ve seen real progress," ACN (International) , July 12, 2026 https:// acninternational.org/egypt-weve-seen-real-progress/ [accessed 06/10/26] . 16 “Church building vandalized in Pakistan," Christian Daily , January 7, 2026 https://www.christiandaily.com/news/church-building-vandalized-in- pakistan [accessed 05/26/26] . 17 “Indian State Plans to Demolish Hundreds of ‘Unauthorized’ Church Structures," International Christian Concern , July 14, 2025 https:// persecution.org/2025/07/14/indian-state-plans-to-demolish-hundreds-of- unauthorized-church-structures/ [accessed 05/26/26] . 18 Michael Gonsalves, “Indian Christians resist planned Church demolition," UCANews , April 20, 2026 https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian- christians-resist-planned-church-demolition/112905 [accessed 05/26/26] . 19 “Laos," Religious Freedom in the World Report (ACN, 2025) https:// acninternational.org/religiousfreedomreport/reports/country/2025/laos; Terry Friel, “Christians violently driven from homes in Laos," UCANews , August 13, 2025 https://www.ucanews.com/news/christians-violently- driven-from-homes-in-laos/109937 [Both sites accessed 05/26/26] . 20 "The Holy Father calls for renewed commitment to defend religious freedom and stand with persecuted Christians worldwide," ACN (International) , October 10, 2025 https://en.acn-global.org/pope-leo-xiv- praises-acn-for-defending-the-faith/# [accessed 07/10/26] . 21 Pope Leo XIV, “Magnifica Humanitas, On Safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence," The Holy See , Paragraph 54, referencing Pope St. John Paul II https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/ en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html [accessed 07/10/26] . 22 ‘Universal Declaration of Human Rights — English, United Nations https:// www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/ english [accessed 07/10/26] . 23 Figures assessing the previous calendar year. 24 “Burkina Faso," Africa Organized Crime Index https://africa.ocindex. net/2021/country/burkina_faso [accessed 07/14/26] .
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