Sudan is ranked in the top five countries in the world for Christian persecution.
Justice & Anti-CorruptionSudan
- Omissions
- The ranking refers specifically to the Open Doors World Watch List methodology (a composite score of violence, pressure and fear experienced by Christians); other persecution indices may order countries differently.
- Sudan's WWL 2026 score of 92 is identical to that of Somalia (94) and Yemen (93) in the sense of being among the three highest-scoring countries only if compared with its own score — in fact, the only three countries with a maximum/extreme score band include Sudan, Nigeria and Mali per Christianity Today, but the ordinal rank of Sudan is 4th.
- The claim does not specify the ranking source or edition; the underlying fact holds for the 2026 edition (January 2026), which the MEP could have known on 2026-07-08.
- Sources
- PrimaryOpen Doors — World Watch List 2026 (official country rankings)World Watch List 2026: 1. North Korea (97); 2. Somalia (94); 3. Yemen (93); 4. Sudan (92, Islamic oppression, 2,201,000); 5. Eritrea (90, Dictatorial paranoia, 1,713,000). Sudan is ranked 4th, i.e. in the top five of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.
- PrimaryOpen Doors US — Top 50 places for Christian persecutionGlobal index of Christian persecution: 1. North Korea (97); 2. Somalia (94); 3. Yemen (93); 4. Sudan (92); ... Sudan appears 4th in the 2026 World Watch List, within the top five.
- SecondaryGlobal Christian Relief — Christian Persecution by the Numbers: 2026 Global TrendsThe top 10 countries on the 2026 World Watch List are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea, Syria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Libya, and Iran — confirming Sudan's position (4th) among the top five.
- SecondaryChristianity Today — The 50 Countries Where It's Most Dangerous for ChristiansArticle on the 2026 Open Doors World Watch List noting that Sudan is among the countries with the highest persecution scores (one of only three with a maximum score, alongside Nigeria and Mali), consistent with Sudan's top-five placement.