Police across the country recorded 159 hate crimes targeted at Muslims, up from 45 in 2012, representing an increase of 253 per cent. In just one year, between 2014 and 2015, that number increased by 59 per cent: from 99 in 2014 to 159 the following year.
An Assyrian woman attends Mass inside the Ibrahim al-Khalil church in Jaramana, eastern Damascus, Syria, in 2015. (Omar Sanadiki/Reuters)
A New Ranking of Nations Where Christians Are Persecuted Most
The ranking covers the worst 50 nations with respect to religious persecution of Christians. Most nations on the list are perennials, the details vary a bit year by year, but the outcome of this tragic sport rarely changes much.