New York - A new ranking released by the non-profit organization “Portes Ouvertes,” (Open Doors) ranked Morocco among the safest countries in the world for Christians.
The new ranking establishes a list of the 50 countries where Christians are persecuted or prevented from freely practicing their religion. According to the ranking, Morocco and Mauritania are the only countries in the Africa and the Middle East region (MENA) where Christians are not exposed to persecution.
Morocco keeps its status as “tolerant” country with regards to Christians. In the 2015 report, the North African country was ranked with Bahrain as the only countries in the MENA region where Christian do not face persecution.
“Open Doors” describes persecution as “any hostility experienced from the world as a result of one’s identification as a Christian.
This include beatings, physical torture, confinement, isolation, rape, severe punishment, imprisonment, slavery, discrimination in education and employment, and even death.
North Korea topped the list of “intolerant countries” for the 14th consecutive year.
According to the same source, the top ten countries where Christians are not welcome are North Korea, Iraq, Eritrea, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Iran and Libya. Tunisia ranks 32, while Algeria ranks 73.
According to the US State Department's Religious Freedom Report for 2014, there are between 4,000 and 8,000 Christians living in Morocco, mostly ethnic Amazigh. Most Moroccan Christians live in the south.
According to the same source, there are between 5,000 and 25,000 foreign Christians living in Morocco, especially in Rabat, Tangier and Casablanca.
“The predominantly Roman Catholic and Protestant foreign resident Christian community consists of approximately 5,000 members, although some clergy estimate the number to be as high as 25,000. Most foreign resident Christians live in the Casablanca, Tangier, and Rabat urban areas,” the 2014 report said.
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