Table of contents

Approximate read time: 15 minutes

On 28 October 2024, the House of Lords will debate the following question for short debate:

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Conservative) to ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the situation of minority faith communities across South Asia, and the role of the United Kingdom in safeguarding the freedom of religion or belief in that area.

Under the previous government, Lord Ahmad was a Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) minister.[1] His areas of responsibility included South Asia. From 2018 to 2019 he was the prime minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief.

1. Overview of faith in South Asia

South Asia is generally considered to include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.[2] Table 1 sets out estimates of each country’s religious composition. While Hinduism or Islam are the majority religions in most South Asian countries, Bhutan and Sri Lanka have Buddhist majorities.[3]

Table 1. Religious composition by South Asian country

Country Estimated religious composition
Afghanistan 99.7% Muslim
<1% other religions, including around 40,000 Christians and 14,300 Hindus
Bangladesh 90.8% Muslim
8.2% Hindu
<1% other religions, including around 1 million Buddhists
Bhutan 74.7% Buddhist
22.5% Hindu
1.9% Folk religions
<1% other religions
India 78.9% Hindu
15.4% Muslim
2.4% Christian
<1% other religions, including 10.1 million Buddhists and 24 million Sikhs and 4.5 million Jains
Pakistan 96.5% Muslim
1.9% Hindu
1.6% Christian
<1% other religions, including 60,000 Sikhs
Nepal 80.6% Hindu
10% Buddhist
5% Muslim
3.6% Folk religions
<1% other religions
Sri Lanka 68.6% Buddhist
13.7% Hindu
10.4% Muslim
7.2% Christian
<1% other religions
Maldives 98.4% Muslim
Each other religion constitutes less than 1% of the total population

(Pew Research Center, ‘Religious composition by country’, accessed 23 October 2024. Figures are estimates based on a 2010 baseline.)

While some people are part of a faith group with few members in the country, others are part of a minority group within a majority religion. Both can experience persecution, both from government and in society.

The Humanist Society and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance (IRFBA) have also highlighted that people with no religion can face persecution.[4] Each of the listed nations in table 1 had less than 1% of people with no religion.

2. Persecution of minority faith groups in South Asian countries

Afghanistan, India and Pakistan are on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom’s (USCIRF) ‘Countries of particular concern’ list. The FCDO has highlighted Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as human rights priority countries.[5]

2.1 Afghanistan

On Afghanistan, the USCIRF said that the introduction and enforcement of strict religious edicts has impacted religious freedoms:

Such edicts have severely restricted the religious freedom of all Afghans, including those with different interpretations of Islam, as well as religious minorities such as Ahmadiyya Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims.[6]

USCIRF notes that corporal and capital punishment are used for enforcement. The FCDO has also noted that many religious minorities have faced violence, persecution, threats and forced displacement.[7]

2.1.1 Read more about freedom of religion or belief in Afghanistan

2.2 Bangladesh

The FCDO stated that in 2022, there had been fewer reports of attacks on people because of their religion or belief than in previous years, but concerns remained:

Whilst the UK recognises that the government of Bangladesh responded swiftly to instances of violence, reports of harassment continued, particularly towards secular groups and Hindu minorities, often incited online.[8]

The FCDO has also raised that while Bangladesh hosted nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, there are restrictions on Rohingya livelihoods, movement and education. Bangladesh also saw increased violence and unrest in August 2024, which culminated in a change of government.[9]

2.2.1 Read more about freedom of religion or belief in Bangladesh

2.3 India

The USCIRF has raised concerns about worsening persecution in India:

Religious freedom conditions in India are taking a drastic turn downward, with national and various state governments tolerating widespread harassment and violence against religious minorities. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which provides a fast track to Indian citizenship only for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan already residing in India. This potentially exposes millions of Muslims to detention, deportation and statelessness when the government completes its planned nationwide National Register of Citizens.[10]

2.3.1 Read more about freedom of religion or belief in India

2.4 Pakistan

The USCIRF has also reported a decline in religious freedoms in Pakistan:

Religious freedom conditions across Pakistan continue to trend negatively. The systematic enforcement of blasphemy and anti-Ahmadiyya laws, and authorities’ failure to address forced conversions of religious minorities—including Hindus, Christians, and Sikhs—to Islam, severely restrict freedom of religion or belief.[11]

The FCDO has also raised concerns about discrimination and violence, as well as an escalated targeting of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community.[12]

2.4.1 Read more about freedom of religion or belief in Pakistan

2.5 Sri Lanka

The FCDO set out concerns about religious freedom in Sri Lanka:

Minority communities faced continued marginalisation by state authorities. State-supported land appropriation, so called ‘land grabs’, sparked concerns over their impact on demographics in the north and east and their impact on the freedom of belief of non-Buddhist denominations.[13]

2.5.1 Read more about freedom of religion or belief in Sri Lanka

2.6 Faith minority groups in other South Asian countries

Minority Rights Group (MRG), a human rights organisation, collates the experiences of minority groups across South Asia.[14] In each country, people who are part of a minority faith community experience impacts of discrimination:

  • In Bhutan, Buddhism is the state religion, which means that Buddhist prayers and ‘values’ form part of school and government life, and more financial resources are available to Buddhist groups. Other faiths have also reported difficulties getting permission to build religious buildings.[15]
  • Hinduism was the official religion of Nepal until it became a secular state in 2008. MRG has reported that Nepal retains the issues of a caste-based society, and that Muslim and indigenous people have faced discrimination.[16]
  • In Maldives, religious freedoms are substantially curtailed, according to MRG, with Sunni Islam as the only officially recognised religion. Maldives applies the strict version of Sharia (Islamic law).[17]

3. Previous government policy

For human rights priority countries, the FCDO reports on actions taken to support those countries to improve, including promoting freedom of religion or belief.[18]

The previous (Conservative) government’s 2021 integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy set the promotion of freedom of religion or belief as one of the UK’s “priority actions”.[19]

In January 2019, the government asked the Bishop of Truro to chair a review to map levels of persecution and other discrimination against Christians around the world.[20] The review was tasked with providing an objective assessment of the levels of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (now the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) support and its impact, and to provide recommendations.[21] Recommendations included:

  • Define discrimination and persecution for Christianity and other religions, to better inform and develop tailored policies.
  • Establish permanently, and in perpetuity, the role of special envoy for freedom of religion or belief.
  • Be prepared to impose sanctions against perpetrators of freedom of religion or belief abuses.
  • Ensure FCO human rights reporting includes Christian persecution, where this is relevant.
  • Encourage government departments (with an international focus) to self-evaluate their policies on freedom of religion or belief to ensure that they are continually advancing it.[22]

The government accepted the recommendations.[23] Implementation became a 2019 Conservative Party manifesto commitment.[24]

The review said that the recommendations should be independently reviewed in three years’ time. An independent assessment was published on 4 July 2022.[25] The independent assessment found that progress had been made in implementing the recommendations, but some had been taken relatively recently and there remained lessons to be learnt.[26]

The government responded that it would continue to make changes and “look for opportunities to make freedom of religion or belief central to the FCDO’s wider human rights work”.[27] It also hosted an international ministerial conference on freedom of religion or belief in July 2022.[28]

The government appointed a prime minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief to support the implementation of the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations. The envoy also:

  • brings together UK efforts to promote religious tolerance abroad, and works on how the UK government can protect and promote this fundamental freedom internationally
  • works with the members of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance to raise awareness of cases of particular concern, advocating for the rights of people worldwide who are discriminated against or persecuted for their faith or belief[29]

The special envoy from 2020 to 2024, Fiona Bruce (formerly Conservative MP for Congleton, now no longer an MP), sponsored a private member’s bill in the House of Commons in the previous session. The International Freedom of Religion or Belief Bill 2023–24 would have established an ‘office of the special envoy’ and required the prime minister to appoint someone to the role. The bill fell at dissolution 2024.

Speaking at the bill’s second reading in the House of Commons on 26 January 2024, Ms Bruce emphasised the role’s relationship to all persecuted people:

In 2019 the noble Lord Bishop, then of Truro, was asked to review what more the then Foreign and Commonwealth Office could do to address the persecution of Christians around the world. The Truro review made practical recommendations for an enhanced response to the plight of persecuted Christians. I emphasise that those recommendations also covered people persecuted for holding other religions or beliefs, or no religious beliefs at all, as does my envoy role.[30]

The government supported the bill.[31]

4. Labour government policy

On 22 October 2024, in answer to a written question, the Labour government stated its support for freedom of religion or belief:

Recognising that human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, this government will champion freedom of religion or belief for all. No one should live in fear because of what they do, or do not believe in.[32]

The government pointed to “the strength of our global diplomatic network, including dedicated staff within the FCDO, to promote and protect human rights”.

Asked whether a new special envoy would be appointed, the government said “envoy roles are under ministerial consideration and will be decided upon in due course”. In answer to a separate written question the government said it had no plans to put envoy roles on a statutory footing in this session.[33]

The 2024 International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief took place in Berlin in October.[34] The government said that the conference was attended by FCDO officials with responsibility for freedom of religion or belief.[35]

5. Read more about global freedom of religion or belief

Cover image by Freepik

References

  1. HM Government, ‘Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon KCMG’, accessed 24 October 2024. Return to text
  2. Brittanica, ‘South Asia’, 22 October 2024. Return to text
  3. Pew Research Center, ‘Religious composition by country’, accessed 23 October 2024. Return to text
  4. Humanists UK, ‘Multinational alliance calls out global persecution of the non-religious’, 19 April 2024. Return to text
  5. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Human rights and democracy: The 2022 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report’,13 July 2023; and ‘Human rights priority countries: Ministerial statement January to June 2023’, 20 March 2024. Return to text
  6. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, ‘USCIRF releases report on religious freedom in Afghanistan’, 7 August 2024. Return to text
  7. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Human rights and democracy: The 2022 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report’,13 July 2023. Return to text
  8. As above. Return to text
  9. Open Doors, ‘Rising number of converts targeted as political and social unrest engulfs Bangladesh’, 12 August 2024. Return to text
  10. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, ‘India’, 2 October 2024. Return to text
  11. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, ‘Pakistan’, 8 August 2024. Return to text
  12. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Human rights and democracy: The 2022 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report’,13 July 2023. Return to text
  13. As above. Return to text
  14. Minority Rights Group, ‘South Asia’, accessed 24 October 2024. Return to text
  15. Minority Rights Group, ‘Bhutan’, May 2020. Return to text
  16. Minority Rights Group, ‘Nepal’, June 2024. Return to text
  17. Minority Rights Group, ‘Maldives’, accessed 24 October 2024. Return to text
  18. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Human rights and democracy: The 2022 Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office report’,13 July 2023. Return to text
  19. HM Government, ‘Global Britain in a competitive age: The integrated review of security, defence, development and foreign policy’, March 2021, CP 403, p 48. Return to text
  20. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ‘Persecution of Christians across the globe independent review: Foreign secretary’s launch speech’, 30 January 2019. The then Bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, has sat in the Lords as the Bishop of Winchester since November 2023. Return to text
  21. Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ‘Independent review of FCO support for persecuted Christians, commissioned by the foreign secretary: Terms of reference’, 8 February 2019. Return to text
  22. Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, ‘Bishop of Truro’s independent review for the foreign secretary of FCO support for persecuted Christians: Final report and recommendations’, July 2019, pp 130–3. Return to text
  23. House of Lords, ‘Written question: Persecution of Christians across the globe independent review (HL17021)’, 23 July 2019. Return to text
  24. Conservative Party, ‘Conservative Party manifesto 2019’, November 2019, p 53. Return to text
  25. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians: Assessment of recommendations’ implementation’, 4 July 2022. Return to text
  26. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘Assessment of the implementation of recommendations of Bishop of Truro’s independent review of FCDO support for persecuted Christians’, 4 July 2022, para 4. Return to text
  27. House of Commons, ‘Written statement: Independent report on the implementation of the Bishop of Truro’s recommendations (HCWS174)’, 4 July 2022. Return to text
  28. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief 2022: Conference statements’, 5 July 2022. See also: House of Lords, ‘Written statement: International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief: London 2022 (HLWS204)’, 15 July 2022. Return to text
  29. HM Government, ‘’, accessed 12 March 2024. Return to text
  30. HC Hansard, 26 January 2024, col 564. Return to text
  31. HC Hansard, 26 January 2024, cols 573–4. Return to text
  32. House of Lords, ‘Written question: Special envoy on freedom of religion or belief (HL1357)’, 8 October 2024. Return to text
  33. House of Commons, ‘Written question: Special envoy on freedom of belief and religion (8437)’, 10 October 2024. Return to text
  34. Digital Global, ‘2024 International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief’, 10 October 2024. Return to text
  35. House of Lords, ‘Written question: Religious freedom: Artificial intelligence (1359)’, 8 October 2024. Return to text