The government is being urged to dedicate more foreign aid to supporting Christians and other religious minorities being persecuted for their faith.

An open letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy warns that persecution is not only "widespread" but "it's also becoming more cruel".

The letter has been published by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in the run-up to its annual Red Wednesday initiative highlighting global persecution, which this year takes place on 20 November.

"ACN research consistently shows that oppression has intensified, and impunity against perpetrators has grown," the letter says.

"This persecution included extreme violations of Article 18 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion." 

The letter expresses disappointment that support for persecuted religious minorities was not included in the previous government's 10-year strategy for international development released in 2022.

The Labour government "has an opportunity to alleviate significant injustices around the world by refocusing UK aid", ACN said. 

Although the charity is asking for more foreign aid to support all persecuted religious minorities, it says that the plight of Christians "deserves to be highlighted in particular, as a plethora of sources show that their situation continues to worsen around the globe".

"Evidence reveals that a) Christians suffer harassment in more countries than any other faith groupiii and b) more Christians are oppressed than other faith groups – with hundreds of millions currently under threat," the letter reads.

It calls for religious minorities to be included as one of the government's foreign aid priorities and concludes by recommending "a standalone religious freedom strategy to outline the most effective means of aid deployment to victims of religious discrimination and persecution". 

ACN's John Pontifex said: "For so many years, governments and officials have tended to have a 'faith blind' approach, overlooking the degree to which religious hatred and discrimination are significant drivers of extreme poverty, joblessness, sexual violence and other forms of torture.

"This new government has an excellent opportunity to address one of the largest, most egregious injustices facing the world today. By making religious minorities target beneficiaries of ODA (UK Overseas Development Aid), the UK can play a leading role in alleviating the plight of countless innocent people suffering around the world merely for their faith."

Red Wednesday will see the publication of ACN's annual report on persecution, Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith, which is expected to show a surge in violence, oppression and other discrimination.