“Freedom of religion remains severely restricted”: US State Department
14 Sep 2011, 6:49 PM
Legal restrictions on freedom of religion in the Maldivian constitution and laws are generally enforced in practice by the government, observed a US State Department ‘July-December 2010 International Freedom of Religion Report’ made public yesterday.
The new constitution enacted in 2008 designates Islam as the official state religion and states that “a non-Muslim may not become a citizen of the Maldives.”
“There was no change in the status of respect for religious freedom by the government during the reporting period. Freedom of religion remained severely restricted,” the report found. “The government required that all citizens be Muslims, and government regulations were based on Sharia (Islamic law).”
However it added that “[t]here were no reports of societal abuses or discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice.”
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