by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – The International Christian Concern (ICC) persecution watchdog warns in a new report that believers in Jesus are being persecuted in seven of the 11 southeast Asia countries. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Vietnam “condone or actively participate in Christian persecution,” ICC states in a report published on November 1.
“Christians in Brunei and Cambodia are prohibited from sharing their faith, and Christ followers in Brunei cannot publicly celebrate Christmas,” ICC states in the report. “Additionally, in 2023, authorities in Brunei reportedly surveilled non-Islamic religious services to guarantee that Muslims weren’t in attendance and that sermons didn’t teach anything against Islam,” ICC said.
In Myanmar/Burma, the Buddhist Burmese army (Tatmadaw) which wrested control of the country in a 2021 coup has been violently persecuting Christians, ICC said, citing the written testimony of Zo Tum Hmung, Executive Director, Chin Association of Maryland to the United States Commission on Religious Freedom (USCIRF) last year. “In Chin State and other areas with large populations of Christians, such as Kachin, Karen, Karenni State, and Sagaing Region, the Tatmadaw burns churches and targets Christian religious leaders for arrest, arbitrary detention, imprisonment, and killing. It is illustrative to look at the case of the Tatmadaw’s attacks on Thantlang Town, which share a pattern with attacks across the country,” Hmung wrote.
In Indonesia, whose Constitution allows freedom of religion, Christians have been jailed under blasphemy laws for criticizing Islam, ICC states. “In 2023, Rudi Simamora, a Christian YouTuber, was sentenced to one year in prison for posting a video condemning Islam. In June 2022, Muhammad Kace, a former Muslim cleric who converted to Christianity, was sentenced to six years in prison for posting videos teaching against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad,” ICC reports.
Christians in Laos are “routinely” discriminated against by the Communist authorities, ICC reports. “Officials from the Lao Evangelical Church reported in 2023 that authorities had forced 79 Christian families from their homes in Khammouane Province and made them renounce their faith,” ICC said.
In Malaysia, too, Christians have been arrested under blasphemy laws for insulting Islam. “Christ followers are banned from evangelizing Muslims. Depending on where in Malaysia a Christian, or any non-Muslim, is convicted for sharing their faith with a Muslim, they may be jailed or endure caning,” ICC said.
Citing a recent report by the USCIRF on the situation facing Christians in Vietnam, ICC noted that Vietnamese Christians, especially the Ha Mon Catholic and Montagnard Protestant groups, are regularly harassed by Communist government officials. According to the USCIRF, “authorities actively restrict independent Montagnard Protestants’ religious activities, forcing them to renounce their faith and arresting and sentencing them on charges of ‘undermining national unity’ and ‘abusing democratic freedoms.’”
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israel unleashed its most decisive and devastating blow in Lebanon since the 2024 ceasefire on Sunday, eliminating Hezbollah’s powerful military chief of staff, Haytham Ali Tabatabai, in a precise airstrike deep inside Beirut. The operation — code-named “Black Friday” — struck the third and fourth floors of a building in the Haret Hreik district, the very nerve center of the Iranian-backed terrorist organization.
The Netherlands’ military confirmed Saturday it opened fire on drones over Volkel Air Base in the southeast of the country, where the United States is widely believed to store nuclear weapons, though no wreckage was recovered.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was detained by Brazil’s federal police on Saturday, days before he was set to begin his 27-year prison sentence for “leading a coup attempt,” officials said.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki said Saturday that any peace plan for Ukraine must be decided in Kyiv, after the U.S. signaled it would press President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a deal to end the war with Russia.
Vietnamese authorities said Saturday that the death toll from torrential rain, flooding, and landslides in central Vietnam has risen to 55, with 13 people reported missing.
Air traffic at Eindhoven airport in southern Netherlands was suspended for several hours late Saturday, shortly after the Ministry of Defense acknowledged that the Dutch military shot at similar flying objects over Volkel Air Base in the southeast of the country, where the United States is widely believed to store nuclear weapons.
Authorities say Ukraine struck a major heat and power station in Russia’s Moscow region on Sunday using drones, igniting a large fire and cutting off heating for thousands of residents. The attack — one of Kyiv’s deepest strikes into Russian territory to date — unfolded as the United States was attempting to advance a peace proposal between the two nations.