Study claims harassment of religious minorities up

Harassment of religious minorities, especially in Europe, has ticked upward, according to a new report from the Pew Forum.

The organization's ninth annual study of global restrictions on religion marks "the second year in a row of increases in the overall level of restrictions imposed either by governments or by private actors (groups and individuals) in the 198 countries examined in the study."

"The share of countries with 'high' or 'very high' levels of government restrictions – that is, laws, policies and actions by officials that restrict religious beliefs and practices – rose from 25 percent in 2015 to 28 percent in 2016. This is the largest percentage of countries to have high or very high levels of government restrictions since 2013, and falls just below the 10-year peak of 29 percent in 2012," the assessment said.

Further, 27 percent of the countries had the same level of "acts of religious hostility by private individuals, organizations or groups in society."

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"In total in 2016, 83 countries (42 percent) had high or very high levels of overall restrictions on religion – whether resulting from government actions or from hostile acts by private individuals, organizations and social groups – up from 80 (40 percent) in 2015 and 58 (29 percent) in 2007," the report said.

"At the same time, most countries in the world continued to have low to moderate levels of religious restrictions. Looking separately at the global median scores on the Government Restrictions Index (a 10-point scale based on 20 indicators of government restrictions on religion) and the Social Hostilities Index (a 10-point scale based on 13 measures of social hostilities involving religion) offers a mixed picture of how religious restrictions are changing. In 2016, the global median score on the Government Restrictions Index ticked upward, from 2.7 to 2.8, while the median score on the Social Hostilities Index fell slightly, from 2.0 to 1.8."

The report said "nationalist" groups and organizations were behind the new uptick in restrictions.

The report named Geert Wilder's Freedom Party in the Netherlands, which that called for the "de-Islamization" of the nation, and a Czech group that opposes allowing Muslim refugees into the country.

"About a third of European countries (33 percent) had nationalist parties that made political statements against religious minorities, an increase from 20 percent of countries in 2015. In France, for example, Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front, promised to continue the ban on religious clothing and symbols in public places specifically to 'fight the advance of political Islam.'

"Overall, Muslims were the most common target of harassment by nationalist political parties or officials in 2016, typically in the form of derogatory statements or adverse policies. This was the case in Denmark, where the Danish People's Party (DPP) backed a measure passed by the city council in Randers that made 'traditional' meals – including pork products – mandatory in public institutions, including schools. Martin Henriksen, a spokesperson for the DPP, said the bill would preserve Danish culture and that the party was 'fighting against Islamic rules and misguided considerations dictating what Danish children should eat.' The bill was opposed by members of the Muslim community because they saw it as stigmatizing; Muslims traditionally do not eat pork ," the report said.

The report also cited President Trump's statements regarding the ban on travel from nations that foment terrorism, which mostly are Muslim-majority.

The report said "nationalist parties also singled out Jews, Christians and members of other minority faiths. In Bulgaria, Jehovah's Witnesses reported an ongoing campaign against their religion by two nationalist parties, the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria and the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, which together form the Patriotic Front political alliance in the country's legislature. And, in Sweden, representatives of the Sweden Democrats Party made anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim remarks on multiple occasions during the year."

The report is the part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures project, which analyzes religious change and its impact on societies around the world. The project is jointly funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the John Templeton Foundation.