US designates China, Pakistan as 'countries of particular concern' on religious freedom
File photo of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Pakistan, China, Myanmar and North Korea are among those designated as "countries of particular concern" by the US in its annual report on religious freedom, for engaging in and tolerating "particularly severe violations of religious freedom".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while announcing the Religious Freedom Designations, said that advancing the freedom of belief or religion has been US foreign policy's core objective since the International Religious Freedom Act was passed and enacted in 1998.
As part of the "enduring commitment", Blinken last week said that he has designated Burma (Myanmar), China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as “Countries of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”
Along with that, he also designated Algeria, Azerbaijan, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam in the category of "Special Watch List" countries after they engaged in or tolerated major violations of religious freedom.
Blinken further designated al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS-Sahel, ISIS-West Africa, al-Qa’ida affiliate Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal-Muslimin, and the Taliban as “Entities of Particular Concern.”
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Religious freedom also violated in non-designated nations: Blinken
He emphasised that major violations of religious freedom have also taken place in countries which are not designated.
Watch:US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Turkiye in fresh West Asia trip
"Governments must end abuses such as attacks on members of religious minority communities and their places of worship, communal violence and lengthy imprisonment for peaceful expression, transnational repression, and calls to violence against religious communities, among other violations that occur in too many places around the world,” said Blinken.
He stated that the challenges to religious freedom are structural, systemic, and deeply entrenched across the globe.
"But with thoughtful, sustained commitment from those who are unwilling to accept hatred, intolerance, and persecution as the status quo we will one day see a world where all people live with dignity and equality,” said Blinken.
(With inputs from agencies)