It used to be the case that Christians suffered greatest in communist countries, but today Islamic fundamentalism has replaced communism as the number one cause of persecution against Christians, says International Christian Concern.

The persecution watchdog released its ‘Hall of Shame’ list of the world’s worst countries for persecution in 2010 this week. New entries include Iraq and Egypt, both of which have seen a substantial increase in anti-Christian violence.

In Iraq, Christians have been murdered almost weekly since October, when Islamic militants killed more than 50 worshippers in a Baghdad church in October and Al-Qaeda announced the following day that Christians were legitimate targets for the Mujahedin.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, the attack on the Baghdad church and the random killing of Christians in the following weeks has triggered a “slow but steady exodus” of thousands of Christians out of the city.

ICC warned that Egypt, more than any country outside of Iraq, had suffered the most from the Al-Qaeda threat.

2010 got off to a bad start when Muslim gunmen shot and killed six Christians in a drive-by shooting in January. Then in November, two people were killed when Egyptian security forces opened fire on Christian protestors in Giza. The highest death toll came this week, however, when a suicide bomber murdered 21 Christians outside a church in Alexandria on New Year’s Day.

Writing in the forward to the report, ICC president Jeff King said that while forms of persecution such as harassment, imprisonment, torture and murder had “steadily declined” in communist and former communist countries - with the exception of North Korea and China – there continued to be a “significant increase” in incidents of persecution in Islamic countries.

In North Korea, ICC said the information it had received indicated that Christians were suffering harsher penalties than most criminals and that an estimated 100,000 Christians are believed to be in labour camps where they are “pushed to the point of being worked to death”.

Asia News reported that North Korean officials raided a house church in Pyungsung County last May and arrested 23 Christians. It reported that three pastors were executed, while the other 20 believers were sent to a labour camp.

The Chinese government came under criticism from ICC for listing Christianity as a cult – a move which could be used to justify government-backed persecution. The report said that house churches have become a target of the Chinese government, which continues to conduct raids, arrest believers, and send them to labour camps for ‘re-education’, often without a court hearing.

The report does not attempt to rank the 11 countries in the Hall of Shame in any particular order on the grounds that it is impossible to fully determine the severity of Christian suffering throughout the world.

Mr King said: "In compiling the report, it was striking to see the rate at which Christian persecution has accelerated around the globe, especially in the Islamic world.

“Anti-Christian hatred arising from Islam has flowed into 2011, as seen in the horrific attacks in Egypt, Pakistan and Iraq already this year.

“Constant vigilance is needed in the struggle to defend the fundamental human right of religious freedom.

“Those of us fortunate to live in countries that grant religious freedom must not forget nor neglect the plight of Christians who are condemned by extremist ideology or government tyranny to suffer – or die – for their faith."