Violations of the right to religious freedom have increased since 2018, according to the Catholic foundation Aid to the Church in Need (AED) *, which has just published its report 2021 covering 196 countries. Violated in one in five countries three years ago, this fundamental freedom is violated today in one in three countries.
In 26 countries, ACN reports religious persecution. Almost half of them are in Africa. The situation is particularly dramatic in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Somalia, in Libya or in the Sahel countries, which has become the world’s second epicenter of Islamist terrorism.
” At Burkina Faso, only 30% of the territory escapes terrorists, who fall into three main categories: groups under Arab leadership – Aqmi, Mujao and Signatories by blood – , Tuareg groups, including the MNLA and Ansar Dine, and groups under black leadership, such as the Macina Liberation Front and Boko Haram ”, details Father Victor Ouedraogo, director of the diocesan communication center of Ouagadougou.
Religious persecutions in 26 countries
All these groups benefit from a favorable ground. “States do not have sufficient means to secure their territory against these armed groups, which benefit from a considerable reservoir of weapons following the dismantling of Libya and who take advantage of the feeling of exclusion of part of the population as well as community conflicts. At the same time, the Gulf monarchies are using terrorists to establish their influence in the Sahelian space ”, analyzes Father Ouedraogo.
“Jihadists are also gaining ground in Mozambique, where the Al-Chabab movement and Daesh affiliates terrorize the population ”, continues Benoît de Blanpré, director of AED France.
To the Comoros, predominantly Sunni Muslim, the situation is deteriorating. In 2019, the government’s director of Islamic affairs banned Christmas celebrations there before retracting due to international pressure.
Religious freedom no longer exists in Saudi Arabia, which strictly applies Wahhabism, nor to Pakistan, where the situation is deteriorating. “Christians and Hindus are kidnapped, raped and forcibly converted there. In addition, at the end of 2020, the government signed an agreement with the Islamist TLP party, which sets itself the task of combating blasphemy ”, alert Benoît de Blanpré. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Muslim charities have even gone so far as to deny access to food and medical aid to minority groups.
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