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Bahrain | 31 May 2016

Bahrain: King permits construction of Coptic church

Show: false / Country: Bahrain /
The Iranian Shiite news agency, ABNA, reported on 10 May 2016 that Bahrain"s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa had "granted an estate" in the capital for the construction of a second church for Coptic Egyptians living in the country. Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "A lot can be said about this news. First of all, getting permission to build a church, indeed an additional church, in a country where Islam is accorded the status of state religion, is encouraging. Bahrain is one of the countries that is known for being repressive in many ways. The country has very restrictive freedom of expression, association, assembly and the press. These are all important rights related to freedom of religion. Secondly, this news has to be treated with caution - celebrating the news or praising the government for granting permission should be limited. To begin with, it is a duty of a state to allow church construction; but also important is the fact that the Shia majority is being mistreated by the ruling Sunni minority, and Coptic Christians are perhaps in danger of being perceived as a pro-government group."  

 

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