Supporting Open Doors

Navendu Mishra attends Open Doors’ World Watch List event in the House of Commons.

I have been contacted by constituents who wish to raise the important work of Open Doors with me. Open Doors is an organisation that seeks to highlight the plight of persecuted Christians around the world and provides support, resources and training to advance this cause. 

I attended an event in the House of Commons on 17 January 2024 hosted by Open Doors to mark the publishing of its annual World Watch List. Open Doors’ World Watch List is a ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. You can read this list here: https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/. 

The findings of the World Watch List 2024 report are deeply concerning. More than 365 million Christians around the world face high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith – equating to around one in every seven Christians worldwide. It is shocking that 4,998 Christians were murdered due to their faith last year.  

The protection of human rights needs to be a leading priority of British foreign policy and diplomatic engagement, and we should do what we can to promote freedom of religion and belief in regions where this is under threat. Fulfilling this responsibility requires the commitment of financial support, as well as a willingness to use all diplomatic tools available, including bilateral relations and multilateral forums such as the UN, to ensure that international law is adhered to where there are humanitarian issues and breaches of human rights. 

I will continue to monitor this important issue closely.