Report shows rise in world restrictions on religion

Nearly a third of the world's population lives in countries where it is becoming more difficult to freely practice religion, a private research group reported yesterday.

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life said government restrictions and public hostility involving religion grew in some of the most populous countries from 2006 to 2009.

A substantial rise in public hostility toward religious groups was seen in Britain, China, Nigeria, Thailand and Vietnam while government restrictions rose substantially in France and Egypt.

In five European countries — Britain, Denmark, Russia, Sweden and Bulgaria — religious tension focused on the rapidly growing Muslim population. There was also some rising anti-Semitism and antagonism toward minorities.

"During the three-year period covered by the study, the extent of violence and abuse related to religion increased in more places than it decreased," according to the report "Rising Restrictions on Religion."

The Pew Center review of 198 countries found those deemed restrictive or hostile in the previous report were growing even more so, while the opposite was found for those with more religious tolerance.

The Pew Center looked at laws or other government policies aimed to ban particular faiths, limit preaching, give preference to particular religions or prohibit conversions. To measure hostility, it looked at sectarian violence, harassment over religious attire and other types of intimidation.

The countries most restrictive or hostile toward certain religions included India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran, China, Myanmar, Russia, Turkey, Vietnam, Nigeria and Bangladesh — although most of these did not show much change in the three years.

People were killed, physically abused, detained, imprisoned, displaced from their homes, or had their property destroyed for religious reasons by governments in 101 countries in the year ending mid-2009, compared to 91 a year earlier, the report said. Muslims and Christians, the world's two largest religious groups, were harassed in the most countries. Other religions also saw harassment.

For the full report on the Pew Forum's website: http://pewforum.org/Government/Rising-Restrictions-on-Religion.aspx — Reuters