The persecution of Christians across the Middle East and in Africa is on the rise, a new report has revealed.

According to World Watch List 2016, compiled by Open Doors, a Christian advocacy group which annually monitors rates of persecution around the world, 2015 saw a deteriorating position for many Christian communities.

However, despite the prominence currently offered by the media for the activities of Islamic State in its drive to eradicate Christians from territory it has claimed for its ‘caliphate’, Open Doors reveals that the country where it is worst to live as a Christian is actually North Korea, which is top for overall persecution. In terms of actual numbers of Christians murdered for their faith, Nigeria lays claim to over half the 7,000 recorded Christian deaths by violence globally.

Of 50 countries listed by Open Doors, six accounted for most Christians murders, all in sub-Saharan Africa: Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya and Cameroon.

“The headlines focus on the Middle East, but there were more recorded killings of Christians due to their faith in northern Nigeria in 2015 than in the rest of the world put together; 4,028 out of a worldwide total of 7,100 reported deaths,” the report said. “In numerical terms at least, though not in degree, the persecution of Christians in this region dwarfs what is happening in the Middle East.”

Meanwhile, Open Doors reports, the Middle East in 2015 continued to be the scene of numerous cases of anti-Christian persecution. Such has been the scale of slaughter and displacement with the rise of Islamic State that numerous high profile figures have urged the international community to recognise as genocide the drive against Christians there.

Among them is Britain’s Lord Alton who has raised the issue in the House of Lords. Speaking to The Guardian newspaper following the release of the Open Doors report, he described the situation for Christians in the Middle East as “a genocide that dares not speak its name”.

“Deep-rooted religious hatred, a hatred of difference,” he added, “is driving on a systematic campaign of deportation and exodus, degrading treatment, including sexual violence, enslavement, barbaric executions, and attempts to systematically destroy all history and culture that is not their own.”

The Open Doors World Watch List Rep[ort can be viewed online at: http://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/