MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the persecution of Christians around the world

B9‑0101/2021

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the persecution of Christians around the world

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Rule 143 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas on 12 January 2021, according to figures published in the organisation Open Doors’ world index of Christian persecution for 2020, 340 million Christians worldwide are being severely persecuted or discriminated against because of their faith, with the number of Christians killed rising from 2 983 to 4 761, an increase of 60% in one year[1];

B. whereas 91% of the Christians killed were killed in Africa, especially in Nigeria, where 3 520 Christians have been murdered;

C. whereas according to a report submitted to the then British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2019, Christians were the most persecuted religious group in the world and ‘in some regions, the level and nature of persecution is arguably coming close to meeting the international definition of genocide, according to that adopted by the UN’[2];

1. Urges the Commission to officially condemn the persecution of Christians, in particular by Islamist groups, and to address the issue in its bilateral dialogue with the countries concerned.