Page 17 - Voice of the Persecuted Christians - Oct-Dec 2022 - 120

DECREE WITH NO LEGAL BASIS
Sri Lankan law does not require Protestant places of worship or religious bodies to register with the State. However, in October 2008, the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Moral Upliftment (also known as the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs) issued a circular requesting all future construction of any place of worship to seek prior permission from the ministry.
The ministry instructed provincial councils and divisional secretariats to comply with
this requirement and seek its prior approval before approving applications. Ministry and local government officials make decisions to grant or deny permission based on their
own understanding or biases even though this circular has
no founding in parliamentary legislation and so no legal validity.
Several Right to Information requests to the ministry and
the Department of Christian Affairs have received responses definitively stating that the circular is applicable only to Buddhist places of worship. These responses have further reiterated that currently there is no registration process in place for Protestant places of worship or clergy.
However, local government authorities and law enforcement officials continue to use the 2008 circular to curtail the rights of religious minorities and subject them to harassment.
SRI LANKA
Sri Lankans demonstrate over government failures
NAew challenge for island’s believers
Churches in Sri Lanka are coming under greater state surveillance
long with the general from non-state actors as well as false population Christians have allegations.
been caught up in the effects of the worst economic crisis in Sri Lanka since its independence in 1948 but they are also facing increased persecution from the state.
Thankfully actual physical attacks against Christians were small in number but places of worship and faith-based organisations have increasingly faced yet another
Our partners reported 31 incidents challenge – state surveillance. An
of violence and intolerance against analysis of data suggests that 58.1 per
Christians in the first quarter of 2022, a 158 per cent increase on the previous three months. Worryingly this included a rise in anti-Christian incidents perpetrated by state officials.
cent of recorded incidents in the first quarter of this year were perpetrated by public officials, in other words, they were either actively or tacitly involved, or present and took no action.
Most occurrences were discriminatory action and practice followed by threats or intimidation or coercion. The former included cases where public officials demanded an end
Our partner, the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka (NCEASL) said: ‘Churches and prayer meetings have been repeatedly visited, surveilled and intimidated by the police.’
PRAY FOR SRI LANKA
• Pray that Christians in Sri Lanka will know God’s provision and care
• For wisdom and protection for Release International partners
• That the 2008 circular would be repealed
to Christian religious worship activities or the registration of churches (although this is not a legal requirement) and villagers opposed the burial of Christians in a public cemetery.
On top of these challenges Christians are also suffering in the economic
and political crisis that has engulfed the country since 2019, with prices
of essential commodities soaring, the rupee collapsing in value and inflation topping 50 per cent.
Incidents of threats or intimidation or coercion included threats of violence
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