According to an International Christian Concern (ICC) analysis, at least 72 Christians are either imprisoned or missing in four of the world’s five communist countries.

This finding further highlights the scope of persecution that Christians face while living under communist regimes.

Using data from the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), ICC learned that 52 Christians are currently imprisoned in China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam. Another 20 Christian prisoners are missing in these countries. 

“These numbers are daunting yet unsurprising,” said an ICC staffer in Asia, who added that the actual numbers are likely much higher. “Communism is just as dangerous and destructive to Christians today as it was in previous generations.”

The 72 documented persecuted believers were imprisoned for a range of perceived offences relating to their Christian faith, including “undermining national unity policy” and “inciting subversion of state power.”

Yang Jianxin of China, for example, was arrested in 2021. He was later sentenced to five years and six months in prison for “conducting illegal business operations” and “printing and purchasing illegal publications” after asking “a local printer to print Bibles.” 

In another case stretching back to 2001, Chung Yong Cheol, a Korean Christian, was arrested “reportedly for studying the Bible” in China and deported to North Korea and sentenced to 10 years in “a political prison camp.” Cheol’s status is unknown. 

Y Min Ksor of Vietnam was arrested in 2018 after Vietnamese authorities accused him of “spreading false information” about Vietnamese religious freedom and human rights abuses to persuade others to “establish an independent state.” Vietnamese authorities allegedly tortured Ksor during his initial detainment and forced him to agree to no longer participate in “worshiping with his church.” He received a 14-year prison sentence for “undermining national unity policy.” 

In Cuba, Pastor Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was allegedly “severely beaten” and urinated on by Cuban authorities in 2021 after they detained him for participating in a protest denouncing the Cuban government’s abuses of civil liberties and food and medical supply shortages. Rosales Fajardo was reportedly “charged with disrespect, public disorder, incitement, and assault” and handed a 7-year prison sentence as a result. As recently as June 2024, reports surfaced alleging that the pastor was again the victim of a vicious beating “while in detention.” 

In addition to China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam, Laos, the fifth communist nation, also persecutes Christians.

According to a U.S. Department of State report from 2023, Laos officials allegedly engaged in discrimination against Christians for refusing to denounce Jesus. The statement also alleges that “in October, Sa Mouay District authorities forced eight or more families from three villages and destroyed their homes following their conversion to Christianity.” 

Communism has long been known for its atheistic roots, and the reverberation of those roots is still felt today by persecuted Christians living under communist rule. Karl Marx, who co-wrote the “The Communist Manifesto,” stated, “Communism begins where atheism begins.”

Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel prize winner and advocate against Soviet Union oppression, spoke out in 1983 on communism and its hatred of religion. 

“Within the philosophical system of Marx and Lenin, and at the heart of their psychology, hatred of God is the principal driving force, more fundamental than all their political and economic pretensions,” Solzhenitsyn said. “Militant atheism is not merely incidental or marginal to communist policy; it is not a side effect, but the central pivot. To achieve its diabolical ends, communism needs to control a population devoid of religious and national feeling, and this entails the destruction of faith and nationhood. Communists proclaim both of these objectives openly and just as openly go about carrying them out.” 

Another concerning reality of communism is its ability to reach beyond national borders. For example, numerous Vietnamese Christians who have fled to Thailand to avoid harsh religious persecution are being harassed and pressured by Vietnamese Communist officials who have traveled to Bangkok to bring these refugees back to face trial. 

“The current extradition trial in Bangkok of Montagnard Christian activist Y Quynh Bdap, who has been in Thailand since 2018, is just one example of the tentacles of communist governments stretching their reach beyond their national borders,” the ICC staffer said. 

Imprisoned Christians: 52

Missing Christians: 20 

Catholics imprisoned: 8 

Protestants imprisoned: 41 

Christians (unspecified) imprisoned: 3 

Missing Catholics: 7 

Missing Protestants: 12 

Missing Christians, unspecified: 1 

The story was culled from the International Christian Concern