Afghanistan, Russia and Nigeria feature prominently in a new report on religious persecution.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released their 2022 report this week.

It focused on the “chilling” plight of religious minorities in Afghanistan. The cover of this year’s report shows images from the Middle East nation – a crowd of women protesting the Taliban, people around a ravaged and bloodied house of worship, and a line of families flanked by soldiers boarding a plane to flee.

For Christians specifically, Nigeria was highlighted as a big concern. The report notes both state and nonstate actors – such as extremist groups Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) – committing egregious violations.

Russia and China were also identified as posing a threat to Christians. Specifically, the Russian invasion of Ukraine causes a risk to non-Russian Orthodox Christians, given the way they were treated when Russia previously invaded Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine. And in Russia itself, the government supports legislation that persecutes religious minorities including Protestants, Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses, Falun Gong and the Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

“Russia is one of the worst violators in the world for religious freedom. We have seen an increase in harassment of religious minorities in Russia, and we would only expect that to continue,” Nadine Maenza, the commission chair, told Crux.