Press Release - International Day for Victims of Religious Violence

Posted on: August 21, 2026

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From Pakistan to France: On the International Day for Victims of Religious Violence, OIDAC Europe calls attention to those whose stories go unheard Vienna, 22 August 2026 – Ahead of the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, OIDAC Europe calls for greater public attention to the millions of people worldwide who experience violence and persecution because of their faith – and whose stories often remain under-reported. “Religious persecution affects millions of people, yet there is sometimes a shocking lack of public interest in their fate. Other human rights causes mobilise large parts of our societies, while victims of religious persecution often struggle to make their voices heard,” says Anja Tang, Executive Director of the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination against Christians in Europe (OIDAC Europe). “August 22 should be a wake-up call and, above all, a day to remember those whose suffering takes place far from the cameras.”

The situation of religious minority girls in Pakistan provides one particularly disturbing example. In April, a group of UN human rights experts raised serious concerns about the “continued and widespread” abduction, forced conversion and marriage in Pakistan. The August 2026 Jubilee Campaign report Stolen Girls further documented 210 cases involving the abduction, coerced religious conversion and forced marriage of Christian girls between 2019 and 2025. The documented cases include minors abducted from their homes, subsequently converted to Islam and married to significantly older men, while their families struggled to obtain effective protection from the authorities.

Tang stresses that the lack of attention given to such cases in Western media points to a structural problem: “Religious freedom is a universal human right. We should be asking why the suffering of some of the world's most vulnerable religious minorities generates so little sustained media attention or public activism in Europe.”

But even when religiously motivated violence occurs in Europe itself, victims can remain largely unknown. On 10 September 2025, Ashur Sarnaya, a 45-year-old Assyrian Christian with a physical disability who had fled Islamist persecution in Iraq, was murdered outside his home in Lyon while livestreaming about his Christian faith on TikTok. Sarnaya had reportedly experienced previous threats connected to his religious activity online.

“It is difficult to imagine a more tragic story: a disabled Christian flees persecution in Iraq, finds refuge in Europe and is murdered years later while publicly speaking about his faith,” says Tang. “Yet outside France, Ashur Sarnaya’s name remains almost unknown, and his death was largely overlooked by major secular news outlets.”

His murder comes amid a concerning rise in violence against Christians in France. According to a recent report by the French Interior Ministry, 843 anti-Christian acts were recorded in 2025. While most concerned attacks against churches and other property, offences against individuals rose sharply. Physical attacks and verbal aggression against Christians increased by 70%, with attacks against clergy and other church officials increasing fourfold. France also recorded 1,320 antisemitic and 326 anti-Muslim acts in 2025.

The International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 and is observed annually on 22 August. It seeks to honour victims and survivors of religiously motivated violence and reaffirm the importance of freedom of religion or belief as a fundamental human right.