This week, the world watched as Spain saw thousands of Muslim refugees from Morocco and other African nations pour over their border. The event has sparked a debate with a lot of misinformation in the ‘mainstream media.’
As the situation unfolds, there is a lesson the persecuted church can teach us.
During the debate, many Christians are honestly confused. The information that ‘mainstream media’ presents is that the refugees are a part of a larger humanitarian crisis that is not religious. Sometimes what the MSM shares is contrary to what Christians can see with their own eyes.
The confusion is by design.
Contrary to what is being reported by MSM, Islam plays a primary role in the refugee crisis and Christians should learn from the persecuted church that currently lives in Islamic nations.
BTJ has been working in Islamic nations between China and Jerusalem for almost three decades. BTJ missionaries are currently serving in Islamic nations in Africa and BTJ has even written books about the situation there. Standing together with the persecuted church gives an insight that can help understand the situation better.
The crisis in Spain is only the most recent event of Muslim refugees fleeing to Christian countries in the last two decades. Muslims fleeing Islamic countries is the world’s largest humanitarian crisis today. According to the most recent UN report, the overwhelming number of refugees are Muslim. More than 74% of refugees represented in the top 10 list are from Islamic areas.
As Muslim refugees in the west increase, there is a few things for Christians to consider.
First, Christians are persecuted in all Islamic nations in the world today. 100% of nations that practice Islam persecute Christians.
Second, all but one of the world’s 51 Islamic nations refuse citizenship for the Muslims needing refugee status. Islam causes the refugee crisis. Islamic nations cannot help a crisis their religion creates. Islamic nations will host refugees until they are sent to anther country, but not provide pathway to citizenship.
Third, many of the Islamic refugees coming to the west are young military-aged males.
Fourth, although Islamic nations will not take the refugees, they will provide support for the building of mosques and promote the Islamization of Christian nations.
As Christian nations receive more Muslim refugees, the laws of the host nations have started to change and lean more towards Islam. As Christian nations begin to reflect more Islamic law, most Christians are ignorant of what those changes mean.
Here is a quick look at what persecuted Christians currently have to live through in nations that currently have Islamic law.
SOMALIA No churches exist. Converts from Islam face death. Al-Shabaab is committed to eradicating Christianity entirely.
YEMEN Christians can be imprisoned, tortured, or killed. Possessing a Bible in Houthi-controlled areas is dangerous. No legal protection for Christians exists.
SUDAN Over 100 churches have been damaged or destroyed. Christians have been abducted and killed. Islamist extremists operate with impunity.
SYRIA Now largely controlled by HTS — an Islamic extremist group with roots in Al-Qaeda. Christian population has collapsed from 1.5 million to 300,000.
NIGERIA More Christians are killed for their faith in Nigeria than anywhere else in the world. Boko Haram, ISWAP, and Fulani militias operate freely. The government has largely failed to prosecute perpetrators.
PAKISTAN Christians are 1.8% of the population but absorb 25% of blasphemy accusations — which carry a death sentence. Mob lynchings of accused Christians are common. Entire Christian neighborhoods have been torched. Christian girls are kidnapped, forcibly converted, and married off. Courts often back the perpetrators.
LIBYA No functioning government to protect Christians. Foreign Christians are kidnapped and killed by Islamist groups. No legal protections exist.
IRAN 96 Christians sentenced to 263 years in prison in 2024 alone — a sixfold increase year-over-year. House churches are raided. Converts are charged with espionage and “enmity against God.” Apostasy is punishable by death. Government’s stated goal: eradicate the Persian-speaking Church.
AFGHANISTAN Christians face death if discovered. No public Christian communities exist. The Taliban is actively working to erase any Christian presence.
SAUDI ARABIA No churches allowed. No public Christian worship of any kind. Apostasy and proselytizing are capital offenses under Sharia law. Bibles are confiscated. Even private worship by expatriates can result in arrest and deportation.
MALI / 
BURKINA FASO Pastors executed, churches burned, villages massacred. Governments have lost control of large swaths of territory to jihadist groups including Boko Haram and JNIM.
IRAQ The Christian population has collapsed from 1.2 million in 2011 to just 120,000 in 2024 — driven by ISIS genocide. Christians are described as “close to extinction.”
ALGERIA All 47 Protestant evangelical churches in the country have been shut down. Converting Muslims is a criminal offense.
MAURITANIA Apostasy is punishable by death. No churches exist for Mauritanian citizens.
MOROCCO No public Christian worship permitted. Converting from Islam can result in prosecution. Foreign missionaries are expelled.
QATAR Apostasy: death penalty under Sharia law. Proselytizing a Muslim: up to 5 years in prison. Bringing Christian materials into the country: up to 2 years in prison.
TURKEY 200+ Christian workers expelled since 2020, labeled “national security threats.” No legal training of clergy permitted. The historic Halki Seminary remains closed. Christian population has collapsed from 20% to 0.2% over the past century.
