Persecution of Christians in Burkina Faso

There are times that it seems as if defending the Persecuted Church is akin to being the proverbial little Dutch Boy trying to plug the leaks in the dike. Just when you get good news from one nation – the cessation of war, or the punishment of those that perpetrated evil – you hear of a tragic event in another . . . and another. Such is the case with the West African country of Burkina Faso.

Activists have made a point of highlighting many nations that are of particular concern, such as Pakistan, Vietnam, and Nigeria. These nations are definitely deserving of highlighting because of their frequent and egregious human rights violations. Defenders of the Persecuted Church report when Christian communities in those nations are attacked and churches destroyed. They demand that these nations be held accountable for the persecution when there seem to be no consequences to those launching the attacks.

So why is persecution of Christians in Burkina Faso seemingly ignored? A recent account in Premier Christian News said that in the northern part of the country Christians have been abandoning their churches to avoid Jihadi violence. And recently released figures from the UN Refugee Agency indicate that more than one million people have been displaced by the violence that has plagued Burkina Faso.

The article in Premier Christian News reported, “According to one pastor in the north of the country, there are no open churches in the north eastern triangle of Burkina Faso.”

Open Doors’ senior analyst on freedom of religion and belief in sub-Saharan Africa Illia Djadi told Premier Christian News that Catholic Christians are identified by their names or by wearing crosses and they are killed. 

“Others have been slaughtered when militants stormed their church services,” Djadi told the news service. He added that Christian leaders, both pastors and bishops, have also been targeted and murdered. And that an “unknown number of pastors and their families have been abducted and remain in captivity.”

Similar to what happened to Christians in Iraq when ISIS began its slaughter, Christians in some parts of Burkina Faso were given an ultimatum to convert to Islam or to leave. This was part of an Islamist program to sow terror. “Jihadists assassinated Christians and forced remaining believers to flee after threatening that they would return,” Premier Christian News reported.

These are just some of the latest facts in a situation that has flown under the radar of most analysts.  The recent coup in Mali, a very disturbing situation in its own right, is easily overshadowing the situation in Burkina Faso next door. But some important pieces of information that were released by Christian human rights organizations and religious freedom watchdogs earlier this year should more broadly be publicized.

One well documented  attack in February 2020 resulted in the death of 24 worshipers. The New York Times in an article on February 17 revealed that Jihadist groups with links to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State wanted control over rural areas of Burkina Faso.  

That attack was followed up in late May by a weekend of attacks that resulted in the deaths of 58 people in three villages, according to an article in Christian Post. One of the assaults targeted a group of Christians and humanitarian aid workers. They were taking food to an IDP Camp which was housing Christian refugees, the U.K. Christian aid agency Barnabas Fund told the newspaper.

“Jihadist violence has now spread from the country’s north to the western Boucle du Mouhoun region where rice and maize are produced and transported to other areas, resulting in a food shortages and might cut off food for millions more in the region,” according to The Associated Press, the Christian Post said.

Efforts to raise awareness of the plight of the Christians in Burkina Faso are often hindered by other, well-organized efforts to highlight other crisis spots around the world. Several of these other areas even have their own champions in the US Congress and even in the mainstream media. This may indicate that activists are finding themselves overextended in this climate. They are stretched thin working as advocates for so many places.

They have not been able to cover the persecution of Christians in Burkina Faso. In addition, the year 2020 itself has provided major challenges rendering the news cycle chaotic. There has not been much room to report on the tragedy of what is happening to Christians in Burkina Faso.

The writer of Proverbs chastises us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves! The Christians in Burkina Faso are not able to speak for themselves. They need our voices, but who is speaking for them? The silence of the western Church is deafening.