Liberty Partnership (GRLP) to better coordinate their activities, BosNewsLife learned Sunday, March 18.
The GRLP group, which was founded in the Dutch capital Amsterdam, includes the international
organizations Open Doors, Voice of the Martyrs, Christian Solidarity International and the World Evangelical Alliance, Netherlands based Open Doors said in a statement.
Leaders of the 15 organizations will meet annually to "coordinate their policies with each other," Open Doors said. The next meeting was due to take place in Zurich, Switzerland.
It comes amid concern about persecution of Christians around the world. "In over 60 nations, 200 million believers face the most brutal retribution because of their faith," Open Doors said recently.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea is leading Open Doors’ annual World Watch List of what it claims are the 50 countries with "the worst" situation for Christians.
Open Doors said this week that it had "uncovered information which indicates that more Christians were arrested in 2006 than in 2005 [in North Korea], with an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 Christians currently suffering in prison camps." Many of them were said to have been tortured. "Others are putting their lives at risk by trying to flee to China," the group stressed.
At least some Christians are known to have been executed in recent months, BosNewsLife monitored. In addition to North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Somalia and the Maldives "a favorite honeymoon holiday destination for many Britons," are "highlighted as the worst offenders," Open Doors said. Completing the top 10 are Yemen, Bhutan, Vietnam, Laos and Afghanistan.
Iraq is also a cause for concern amid daily bloodshed, churches and human rights groups have said. The number of Christians staying in Iraq dropped from roughly 750,000 before war broke out four years ago, to 450,000 now, according to Christian rights investigators.
