US State Department re-designates Pakistan, China among countries of particular concern on religious freedom

While China is under scanner for its treatment of Uyghur Muslims and their internment in political indoctrination camps, reports of persecution of minorities and groups like Baloch and forced conversions to Islam pour in from Pakistan.

In the far western Chinese region of Xinjiang where Uyghur Muslims live,  supposedly 1 million individuals were sent to camps against their will, media reports said. According to The Guardian, the region itself has been transformed into a surveillance state not seen anywhere else on Earth.

In Pakistan on the other hand the minority Sikhs and Hindus continued to face persecution and reports of young girls being kidnapped and converted to Islam before being married off to Muslim men pour in.

Enforced disappearances of pro-freedom activists in Pakistan's restive Balochistan continued to rile the region seeking separation from the South Asian country the Baloch people consider as brutal enemy.

The US state department in a statement said: "The protection of religious freedom is a top Trump Administration foreign policy priority.  Persecution and discrimination on the basis of religion or belief exists in every region of the world.  The United States continues to work diligently to promote religious freedom and combat abuses.  These recent designations continue that important work."

As per the US Department's statement, Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan have been redesignated as Countries of Particular Concern under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 for having engaged in or tolerated “systematic, ongoing, [and] egregious violations of religious freedom.” 

The Department renewed the placement of Comoros, Russia, and Uzbekistan on a Special Watch List (SWL) for governments that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom,” and added Cuba, Nicaragua, Nigeria, and Sudan to this list. 

Sudan was moved to the SWL due to significant steps taken by the civilian-led transitional government to address the previous regime’s “systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom.” 

Finally, the US also designated groups like al-Nusra Front, al-Qa’ida in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Qa’ida, al-Shabab, Boko Haram, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Khorasan, and the Taliban as 'entities of particular concern'.

"These designations underscore the United States’ commitment to protect those who seek to exercise their freedom of religion or belief.  We believe that everyone, everywhere, at all times, should have the right to live according to the dictates of their conscience.  We will continue to challenge state and non-state entities that seek to infringe upon those fundamental rights and to ensure they are held to account for their actions," the US Department said.

This month, the U.S. Government announced designations of 68 individuals and entities in nine countries for corruption and human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Act, among them four Burmese military leaders responsible for serious human rights abuses against the Rohingya Muslims and other religious and ethnic minorities, read the department's statement.

Speaking on China and its treatment on Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, the department said: "In October, we placed visa restrictions on Chinese government and Communist Party officials who are believed to be responsible for, or complicit in, the detention or abuse of Uighurs, Kazakhs, or other members of Muslim minority groups in Xinjiang, China.