Jump to news clippings on religious freedom in Burma
Religious freedom is specifically provided for in Burma’s 2008 Constitution. Statistics indicate that 89% of the population is Buddhist, 4% Christian, 4% Muslim, 1% Animist, and 2% other. [1]
While government reforms and release of political prisoners are welcome, Burma consistently ranks as one of the most repressive societies in the world. [2] There are indications that the government controls, clergy, censors religious material, destroys religious sites and restricts religious gatherings and construction of places of worship. [3] There is evidence of forced conversions to Buddhism. [4] In December of 2014, draft laws were introduced which would ban interfaith marriages and religious conversion. [5] Internal displacement of minorities is widespread.
The Rohingya minority group have been denied citizenship in Burma. Along with fellow Muslims in areas of Rakhine (Arakan) state, they are barred from worship and from teaching the Muslim faith for most of the year. [6] Many have fled the country to seek refuge, often disappearing or living in refugee camps under poor conditions especially vulnerable to trafficking. It is estimated that 140,000 Rohingya Muslims remain internally displaced. Rohingya Muslims were ineligible to vote in the constitutional referendum that took place in May 2015.
Mid-2013 marked a spike in attacks against Muslim communities; armed mobs and villagers. Buddhist monks destroyed Muslim homes, schools, shops, mosques and other religious sites, killing over 100 people and displacing thousands. [7] The 969 Movement, an organization advocating for Buddhist rights, encouraged hostility towards Muslims, but was not brought to account.
There is evidence that Christians in Kachin and northern Shan states have been targeted by the military. An estimated 100,000 Kachin Christians remain internally displaced. In January 2015, the Chin state and Burmese army continued to carry out abuses targeting Christians. [8]
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By Todd Pitman | Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s army was not the only group that slaughtered civilians in the country’s volatile west last year, Amnesty International said in a new report accusing ethnic Rohingya insurgents of ... Full Article
By Annie Gowen | The Washington Post SITTWE, Burma — The Hindu woman wept as she vowed never to return home, where she said Rohingya militants slaughtered her son, daughter-in-law and three granddaughters in August. “They killed my ... Full Article
By Darragh Peter Murphy | The Journal Myanmar is carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims, a UN official has reportedly said, as horrifying stories of gang rape, torture and murder emerge from among the thousands who have fled to ... Full Article
By Al Jazeera Investigative Unit Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has uncovered what amounts to “strong evidence” of a genocide coordinated by the Myanmar government against the Rohingya people, according to an assessment by ... Full Article
By John Zaw, Mandalay | UCANEWS.COM A court in central Myanmar on Tuesday sentenced a former opposition official to two years imprisonment with hard labor for insulting religion in a speech that urged tolerance among the country’s hardline ... Full Article
Canada continues leadership in promoting religious freedom globally May 6, 2015 – Yangon, Burma – Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada Andrew Bennett, Canada’s Ambassador for Religious Freedom, today announced support from ... Full Article
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2015 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemns the package of race and religion bills that Burma’s parliament is considering. These bills would ... Full Article
