Myanmar: Scrap ‘Race and Religion Laws’ that Could Fuel Discrimination and Violence

Myanmar’s parliament must reject or extensively revise a series of proposed laws that would entrench already widespread discrimination and risk fueling further violence against religiousminorities, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said today […]

Burma’s Religious Conversion Bill is “Major Setback for Religious Freedom and Human Rights”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has expressed profound concern that a new law restricting religious conversions, passed earlier this week by the upper house of Burma’s parliament, would be a major setback for religious freedom and human rights in the country. […]

BURMA: USCIRF Strongly Condemns Race and Religion Bills

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 further restrict religious freedom and discriminate against all non-Buddhists, particularly male Muslims, in religious conversions and marriages. USCIRF criticized a May draft of one of these bills, the religious conversion law, as “irreparably flawed” and in contravention of “Burma’s international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief.” […]

Myanmar’s Proposed Race and Religion Laws are Discriminatory and should be Scrapped

BANGKOK — Southeast Asian lawmakers today called on Myanmar to scrap a package of discriminatory laws to be submitted for review by the parliament, saying they violate international human rights laws and threaten to destabilize the county in its transition to democracy. […]

Religious Conversion Law Threatens Religious Freedom in Burma/Myanmar

Over 80 organizations from civil society worldwide today call on the Government of Burma/Myanmar to scrap proposed legislation that would unlawfully restrict the right to freely choose a religion. If adopted, this law would violate fundamental human rights and could lead to further violence against Muslims and other religious minorities in the country […]

USCIRF Deeply Concerned by Draft “Religious Conversion Law” in Burma

Washington, D.C. – The draft of the ill-advised “Religious Conversion Law” which Burma’s parliament released for public comment would further restrict religious freedom in a country considered one of the worst by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). The May 27 draft responds to Burmese U Thein Sein’s request that parliament consider four laws demanded by a Buddhist organization connected to the nationalist movement known as “969.” The drafting committee will receive suggestions until June 20, 2014, and then will submit a draft law on conversion to the parliament […]

Burma Parliament Must Reject Dangerous Religious Conversion Law

The introduction of the draft Law on Religious Conversions (the Law) – published in full in Burmese in state media on 27 May 2014, for the consideration of Parliament and the public – has justifiably triggered a torrent of criticism over the past few days, at national, regional and international levels.  Human Rights Watch has urged the Burma Parliament to drop the Law, while the Asian Human Rights Commission has called for “the strongest opposition to the Law, both in the public domain and in the legislature.”

Part of a package of four bills which comprise measures to “protect race and religion,” the Law is the product of a very powerful lobby in contemporary Burma, namely a coalition of Buddhist monks known as the “Organization for the Protection of Race, Religion and Belief” (the OPRRB), which has been petitioning President Thein Sein and the Burma Government to address the simmering issue of race and religion since religious and communal tensions first broke out in Arakan State almost exactly two years ago.  One of the leaders of the OPRRB, Tilawka Biwuntha, told Radio Free Asia that his organization were pleased with the introduction of the Law.

Buma/Myanmar: Draft Anti-religious Conversion Law Released

On 27 May 2014 the state media in Burma (Myanmar) published the latest in a series of anti-democratic laws for the national legislature to consider: the Law Relating to Religious Conversion (Draft) […]