An annual list ranking the 50 countries where Christians face the most brutal persecution has been released and North Korea is again at the top.

The totalitarian regime is ranked number one on the 2018 Open Doors World Watch List, marking the 16^th consecutive year it has topped the list.

David Curry, president and CEO of Open Doors USA, says it’s no surprise that Christians suffer in North Korea, where dictator Kim Jong-Un thinks he is God.

“But acts like an animal destroying his own people,” Curry says.

Describing the dangers of Christians there, Curry says starving neighbors are promised more rations if they squeal on someone who owns a Bible or talks about their faith. The country’s horrible labor camps, he says, are filled with tens of thousands of Christian believers.

Farther down the list, one country many might be surprised to see ranked No. 11 is India, which is often associated with Gandhi and democracy.

But the country of 1.3 billion people has earned a spot on the list, and keeps climbing every year, because its prime minister and the BJP party are attempting to enforce one religion: Hinduism.

What is happening there is “incredibly shameful,” says Curry, and India needs to be informed the United States is aware it is allowing attacks on churches and Christian believers.

Curry tells OneNewsNow that many other countries in the top 10 are driven by “Islamic oppression” and hence Afghanistan ranks second followed in order by Somalia, Sudan, and Pakistan.