Speaking at the In Defense of Christians summit in Washington, D.C., last October, Vice President Mike Pence sharply criticized the United Nations, arguing the international body has often failed to help the most vulnerable communities, especially religious minorities.

Pence said persecuted Christians in the Middle East have not been getting the relief they need and there is credible data to back up the fact that millions of Christians are being denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith.

A report by “Aid to the Church in Need,” an international Catholic charity organization, notes that of the world’s three largest religions — Christianity, Islam and Hinduism — Christians are the victims of at least 75 percent of all religiously motivated violence and oppression.

The overwhelming majority of persecution occurs under Muslim despots. Aid to the Church in Need reports that the religiously motivated ethnic cleansing of Christians is so severe that segments of the population will disappear completely from parts of the Middle East within a decade.

When a dictatorial regime falls in the Islamic world, it doesn’t mean an end to the sufferings. Instead, the Christian persecutions tend to rise, as seen after the regimes of Saddam Hussein fell in Iraq and Gadhafi in Libya. Today, Iraq is the eighth-worst nation in the world in its treatment of Christians, Syria is 15th and Libya seventh.

Syria, the most violent country in the world due to the war, is ranked last on the Global Peace Index. More than 11 million have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other — as well as jihadist militants from the Islamic State.

Assad recently felt the power of America’s military might after it was found that biological weapons were used on his own people.

Christians make up approximately 10 percent of Syria’s 17.2 million people. Aleppo, once home to the largest Christian community in the Middle East in 2011, has been decimated, losing 75 percent (150,000 down to about 35,000) of that segment of the population in just six years.

As Islamic influence has grown in Turkey, that nation has become increasingly intolerant to Christians like Andrew Brunson, a North Carolina native who led a congregation for 23 years before being imprisoned. The American pastor was accused of spying, espionage and “Christianization” (attempting to convert Kurds to Christianity).

The American Center for Law and Justice is helping to represent Brunson, who faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted. ACLJ claims the prosecution is outrageous and said the pastor was held for nearly a year and a half without being formally charged.

Last May, in a face-to-face meeting with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington, President Trump called for the Brunson’s release. The case has escalated amid tensions between the U.S. and Turkey over the conflict in Syria.

Last year, the United Nations finally conceded there is a problem with the persecution of Christians, and two U.N. officials pledged in letters to the American Center for Law and Justice that the international body will aid persecuted Christians.

Again, it was Pence who drilled the U.N. about ignoring the persecuted Christians.

“We will no longer rely on the United Nations alone to assist persecuted Christians and minorities in the wake of genocide and the atrocities of terrorist groups,” Pence said. “The United States will work hand-in-hand from this day forward with faith-based groups and private organizations to help those who are persecuted for their faith. This is the moment, now is the time, and America will support these people in their hour of need.”

Adama Dieng, the U.N.’s under-secretary-general and special adviser regarding the prevention of genocide, stated that the U.N. would encourage Iraq to lead the way in protecting Christians and preventing genocide.

The U.N.’s acknowledgment of Christian persecution came just weeks after President Trump ordered the State Department to stop funding the U.N’s humanitarian programs the administration claims are inadequately combating the persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

North Korea leads the list of 50 countries in which Christians are persecuted the most. It is currently estimated that more than 50,000 Christians — 20 percent of the Christian community — are locked inside concentration camps under Kim Jong Un’s regime because of their faith. Here they experience a “life of hell,” suffering torture, mass starvation and death by asphyxiation in gas chambers.

When the president sits down for his historic meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, the treatment of Christians under the Supreme Leader’s regime must be a priority. Like nuclear weapons, the persecution and genocide of Christians can’t be tolerated.

By Jim Zbick | tneditor@tnonline.com