Christian leaders warn race and religion laws will divide country

02 September 2015
Christian leaders warn race and religion laws will divide country
People pray at a Catholic Church in Yangon, Photo: Mizzima

A set of restrictive laws on race and religion finalized this week in Myanmar could exacerbate tensions and drive a wedge between the country’s diverse ethnic and religious groups, Christian leaders have warned according to a report by UCANews on 2 September.
Christian groups raised their concerns after Myanmar’s president on 31 August signed into law the last of four controversial bills pushed by hard-line Buddhist monks.
The new monogamy law sets punishments for people who have more than one spouse or who are living with another person while still married. It carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison.
Rights groups believe the new law — as well as three other laws on population control, religious conversion and interfaith marriage — is a thinly veiled attempt to target religious minorities, especially Muslims, in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
Dr. Saw Hlaing Bwar, professor at the Myanmar Institute of Theology’s Judson Research Centre in Yangon, said the laws could be used to institutionalize discrimination against minorities.
In predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, Christians represent about 5 percent of the population while Muslims comprise about 3.5 percent.