Arab Spring Adds to Global Restrictions on Religion

[iranigirl2]

At the onset of the Arab Spring in late 2010 and early 2011, many world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, expressed hope that the political uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa would lead to greater freedoms for the people of the region, including fewer restrictions on religious beliefs and practices. But a new study by the Pew Research Center finds that the region’s already high overall level of restrictions on religion – whether resulting from government policies or from social hostilities – continued to increase in 2011.











Countries with Very High Restrictions


Over the five years studied, the number of countries with very high government restrictions on religion doubled, increasing from 10 as of mid-2007 to 20 in 2011, as a total of 11 countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) were added to the “very high” category, while just one (Turkey) was removed. (See table below.) Meanwhile, 100 countries (51%) had low levels of government restrictions in 2011, down from 117 (59%) in the first year of the study.










Countries with Very High Social Hostilities involving Religion










Harassment of Specific Groups














Arab Spring Adds to Global Restrictions on Religion | Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

 

[China_Rising]

Very interesting. Thanks