ICC Newsroom
Your leading source for persecution news
International Christian Concern staffers are experts on global persecution and pride themselves on knowing the trends and ins and outs of religious freedom. ICC’s global team, ICC Fellows, and guest scholars write breaking news stories and reports on persecution topics, countries, and regimes. ICC’s signature comprehensive report is the annual Global Persecution Index.
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Church Construction Rejected for 22 Years
May 15, 2026 Indonesia — The construction process for the Indonesian Pentecostal Church (GPI) in Tanjung Senang Village, Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, has once again reached a deadlock. The conflict, which has been ongoing since 2004, has become even more complicated after...
Räsänen Appeals Finnish Supreme Court’s Decision
May 15, 2026 European Union, Finland — On May 7, Finnish member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen announced that she is appealing the Finnish Supreme Court’s decision against her. In 2022, Räsänen went to trial before Finland’s Supreme Court for...
Christian Publishers Endure Harsh Conditions in Prison
May 15, 2026 China — Chang Yuchun and his wife, Li Chenhui, remain in brutal conditions in separate prisons in Xi’an City, Shaanxi province, China. The couple was involved in printing Christian literature and materials in Xi’an in 2015. In July 2020,...
Learning to Suffer Like Peter: Rejoicing When You Share in Christ’s Sufferings
May 15, 2026 — By Pieter Vermeulen, ICC Board Member, as part of a series, “Persecuted but not Forsaken.” If Paul teaches us that suffering is often the mark of authentic gospel ministry, Peter...
State Department Delay Sends the Wrong Message on Religious Freedom
May 15, 2026 Nigeria, United States — Religious freedom conditions remain troubled in much of the world, including in some of the most populous nations. These conditions can mean the difference between life and death, but they...
U.S. Administration Strives to Protect the Persecuted Church
May 14, 2026 Nigeria — Note: ICC is an apolitical entity and does not support political causes or parties. ICC’s focus is to ease the suffering of Christians in hostile places. By ICC Fellow Lisa...
More Christians Slaughtered in Biakato, DRC
May 14, 2026 DRC — On May 13, ADF rebels attacked Christians in Biakato, Mambassa Territory, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), slaughtering 21 people and burning down homes. “The rebels came during the...
Africa News
See All Africa NewsState Department Delay Sends the Wrong Message on Religious Freedom
May 15, 2026 ICC News — Religious freedom conditions remain troubled in much of the world, including in some of the most populous nations. These conditions can mean the difference between life and death, but they...
U.S. Administration Strives to Protect the Persecuted Church
May 14, 2026 ICC News — Note: ICC is an apolitical entity and does not support political causes or parties. ICC’s focus is to ease the suffering of Christians in hostile places. By ICC Fellow Lisa...
More Christians Slaughtered in Biakato, DRC
May 14, 2026 ICC News — On May 13, ADF rebels attacked Christians in Biakato, Mambassa Territory, Ituri province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), slaughtering 21 people and burning down homes. “The rebels came during the...
ADF Strikes Makumo, Days after Biakato Massacre
May 14, 2026 ICC News — Three days after more than 20 civilians were massacred at Biakato, another ADF attack in Makumo, Ituri Province, DRC, on May 10 created fear among the Christian majority. “In our...
Middle East News
See All Middle East NewsPolitics and the Power of the Persecuted Church in Iran
May 12, 2026 ICC News — By Dr. Greg Cochran, ICC Fellow The global spotlight shines brightly on the Strait of Hormuz as the world watches powerful actors vying for success, waiting to see how this...
Growing Up Christian in the Churchless Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
May 11, 2026 ICC News — Attacks on churches are a harsh reality in many countries. But Saudi Arabia is not one of them. The birthplace of both Islam and Wahhabi radicalism, this country of more than 35 million people...
Demolition of Monastery Highlights Strain on Christians in the Middle East
May 8, 2026 ICC News — According to reporting by Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) last week, the Israeli military demolished a Catholic monastery and a nuns’ school in a southern Lebanese border village. The destruction...
Ruling Party in Armenia Releases Anti-Church Platform
April 27, 2026 ICC News — Ahead of the June elections, Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract Party has published a political platform that calls for the removal of the Catholicos of All Armenians and outlines a politically led roadmap for restructuring the Armenian Apostolic...
South Asia News
See All South Asia NewsStolen Innocence: The Abduction and Forced Marriage of Christian Girls in Pakistan
May 13, 2026 ICC News — Each year in Pakistan, roughly 1,000 young girls — many of whom are Christians — are kidnapped from their homes. These girls are often found months later, after they’ve been...
People’s Tribunal Claims Odisha Government Complicit in Christian Persecution
May 11, 2026 ICC News — A people’s tribunal, led by prominent civil rights activists in India, submitted a letter last week to the Odisha government accusing the state administration of being complicit in the persecution...
Christian Man Dies Doing Forced Labor in Pakistan
May 11, 2026 ICC News — Around 5 a.m. on May 7, Shabbir Masih, a 33-year-old Christian sanitation worker in Pakistan, died after inhaling toxic gases while doing a dangerous job his supervisors forced him to...
BJP Expands State Power as Concerns Grow for India’s Religious Minorities
May 5, 2026 ICC News — India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has secured a sweeping set of state-level victories, tightening its political grip across key regions and signaling a renewed phase of consolidation under Prime...
Southeast Asia news
See All Southeast Asia NewsChurch Construction Rejected for 22 Years
May 15, 2026 ICC News — The construction process for the Indonesian Pentecostal Church (GPI) in Tanjung Senang Village, Bandar Lampung, Indonesia, has once again reached a deadlock. The conflict, which has been ongoing since 2004, has become even more complicated after...
Christian Publishers Endure Harsh Conditions in Prison
May 15, 2026 ICC News — Chang Yuchun and his wife, Li Chenhui, remain in brutal conditions in separate prisons in Xi’an City, Shaanxi province, China. The couple was involved in printing Christian literature and materials in Xi’an in 2015. In July 2020,...
Persecution in China Continues as Trump Lands in Beijing
May 13, 2026 ICC News — U.S. President Donald Trump disembarked in Beijing just after 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of top American business leaders and economic advisors. With trade and...
North Korea Prisoners to Receive Human Rights Award
May 5, 2026 ICC News — Three Korean missionaries detained for more than a decade in North Korea will receive the Graciela Fernandez Meijide Human Rights Award in August in absentia. The three men — Choi...
Religious freedom in the west
See All The West NewsRäsänen Appeals Finnish Supreme Court’s Decision
May 15, 2026 ICC News — On May 7, Finnish member of Parliament Päivi Räsänen announced that she is appealing the Finnish Supreme Court’s decision against her. In 2022, Räsänen went to trial before Finland’s Supreme Court for...
State Department Delay Sends the Wrong Message on Religious Freedom
May 15, 2026 ICC News — Religious freedom conditions remain troubled in much of the world, including in some of the most populous nations. These conditions can mean the difference between life and death, but they...
Persecution in China Continues as Trump Lands in Beijing
May 13, 2026 ICC News — U.S. President Donald Trump disembarked in Beijing just after 8 p.m. local time on Wednesday, accompanied by an entourage of top American business leaders and economic advisors. With trade and...
Politics and the Power of the Persecuted Church in Iran
May 12, 2026 ICC News — By Dr. Greg Cochran, ICC Fellow The global spotlight shines brightly on the Strait of Hormuz as the world watches powerful actors vying for success, waiting to see how this...
ICC Fellows
See All ICC Fellows NewsPerspective on Middle East Policy, Politics, and Persecution
April 1, 2026 ICC Fellows, ICC News — By ICC Fellow Dr. Greg Cochran What makes a home? Beyond the quality of neighborhoods and locations near good schools, houses currently for sale must compete for the attention of skilled buyers who are well-suited to scrutinize — buyers making...
Economic Persecution (Part 1 of 5)
March 9, 2026 ICC Fellows, ICC News — By Lisa Navarrette, ICC Fellow When persecution is discussed, it is usually framed in images of violence: burned churches, imprisoned pastors, mobs chanting in the streets. These images are real, and...
Update on Syria: A New Era or More of the Same for Syrian Christians?
September 19, 2025 ICC Fellows — By Linda Burkle, Ph.D., ICC Fellow Several years ago, while in Jordan, I had the privilege of participating in a feeding and grocery distribution program for Syrian refugees. We served...
Word Wrangling in the Sahel Region
May 8, 2025 ICC Fellows — By Dr. Greg Cochran, ICC Fellow One of the greatest half-truths ever unleashed on humanity was the pithy encouragement parents commonly passed down to their children: “Sticks and stones may...
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