Special to WorldTribune.com

Kurds in the Syrian north offer one of the few glimmers of hope in a region where religious minorities are brutalized, repressed and at risk of genocide.

Minority Rights Group International (MRG) issued its 2015 Peoples Under Threat list and Syria was at the top after five years of war that has left more than 220,000 dead and millions displaced.

“Extreme sectarianism…has now infected much of the country,” MRG said. “Only in the Kurdish-held regions of the north…has there been a serious attempt at establishing an inclusive democracy.”

Christians, Shi’ites, Alawites and Palestinians are particularly threatened, MRG reported.

Countries under assault by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) are also high on the MRG list, including Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Egypt, Lebanon and Afghanistan.

“The threat to the Middle East from ISIL should not be underestimated, but most people have more to fear from their own governments,” said Mark Lattimer, MRG’s Executive Director. “Supporting anything or anyone who opposes ISIL could be a big mistake.”

Lattimer added that, while the Middle East dominates the list, “of equal concern is the rise in risk in two of the world’s major powers: Russia and China.”

MRG reported that China has risen 15 places on the list mainly due to unrest in the Muslim Uighur community which has led to mass arrests, dozens of executions and more than 200 deaths in terrorist attacks.

MRG said Russia owes its 16th place ranking on the list to discrimination against migrants and government clashes with Islamist separatists in the North Caucasus.

Ukraine rose 39 places after what MRG described as increasing suppression of human rights and mass displacement in eastern regions.

South Sudan and Central African Republic also rose several places on the list, MRG said. Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo also ranked high.

  China, Christians, Kurds, MRG, Religious minorities most at risk throughout Mideast, Russia, Syria, WorldTribune.com