MYANMAR
Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
In February 2021, Myanmar’s Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) staged a coup against the democratically elected government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy, which had first come to power following its electoral victory in November 2015 and was re-elected in November 2020.[1]
Since the military takeover, the country has been embroiled in a brutal civil war. Despite this, the 2008 constitution of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) remains in place. Drafted by the military before transferring power to civilian control,[2] it formally protects freedom of religion for its citizens. Article 34 states, “Every citizen is equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess and practise religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this constitution.” However, while Article 362 of the constitution acknowledges Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Animism as “the religions existing in the Union at the day of the coming into operation of this constitution,” Article 361 recognises the “special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union”.[3]
Article 364 forbids “the abuse of religion for political purposes,” adding that “any act which is intended or is likely to promote feelings of hatred, enmity or discord between racial or religious communities or sects is contrary to this constitution. A law may be promulgated to punish such activity.”
In addition to the constitution, various provisions of the Penal Code of Myanmar relate to religion and prohibit religiously motivated offences. Section 295 covers acts that damage or defile places of worship; Section 295A refers to insulting religion; Section 296 refers to causing a disturbance at religious gatherings; Section 297 relates to trespassing in places of worship and burial places; and Section 298 refers to insulting people’s religious feelings. All these provisions carry with them fines and custodial sentences of one to two years.[4] These rules are similar to blasphemy laws in other countries. Although intended to penalise expressions or actions deemed offensive to religions or their symbols, in practice these laws are often applied broadly and subjectively, frequently targeting religious minorities or dissenting voices.
In May and August 2015, the government of then President Thein Sein introduced four laws for the “Protection of Race and Religion”, which remain in effect today. They include legislation that requires registration for marriages between non-Buddhist men and Buddhist women, stipulates obligations to be observed by non-Buddhist husbands and penalties for non-compliance, and regulates religious conversion with the requirement for conversions to be approved by a government body.[5]
The Buddhist clergy (Sangha) is forbidden by law to engage in political activity.[6] Article 121 (i) of the constitution bars members of “a religious order” from running for public office, and from voting (Article 392 (a)). The constitution also forbids “the abuse of religion for political purposes” (Article 364).[7]
Buddhist monks and educational establishments come under the Department for the Perpetuation and Propagation of the Sasana (Buddhist teachings) at the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MRA) while the nine approved religious orders fall under the authority of the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee (SSMNC or Ma Ha Na). No other Buddhist monastic organisation is allowed.[8]
On 10 February 2024, the ruling military junta issued an order to implement the 2010 People’s Military Service Law, imposing conscription on all men aged 18 to 35 and women aged 18 to 27. In addition, “professional” men and women can be conscripted up to the age of 45 and 35 respectively. Anyone who tries to avoid the draft or help others avoid military service risks up to five years in prison.[9]
Incidents and developments
The military regime, which overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of Myanmar in a coup d’état on 1 February 2021, continues to be led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services, as well as Chairman of the State Administrative Council (SAC). The military continues to perpetrate serious human rights violations against the population throughout the country, including violations of religious freedom, which have increased and intensified since the coup, particularly during the period under review for this report.
Myanmar’s democratically elected leader and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is serving multiple allegedly politically motivated sentences totalling 27 years. In 2024, she was moved from prison to house arrest for health reasons,[10] but given that she turned 80 on 19 June 2025, concerns are growing about her health and the conditions of her confinement. It is highly likely that unless there is a change in Myanmar, she will die in detention.[11]
According to the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 13 June 2025, a total of 29,277 people have been arrested for political reasons since the coup, with 22,125 still in jail. At least 6,796 civilians have been killed by the junta.[12] The United Nations estimates that over 3.5 million people have been internally displaced by the civil war, and many more have been forced to flee as refugees across the borders to neighbouring countries.[13] The country is living through what UN experts describe as its worst humanitarian crisis in many years, with almost a third of the population (15.2 million) facing acute food insecurity. Overall, more than 19.9 million people need humanitarian assistance.[14]
Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has described the human rights situation in Myanmar as “among the worst in the world” with “a litany of human suffering that is difficult to fathom”.[15]
In his March 2025 statement to the UN Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner reported multiple violations, including beheadings, burnings, mutilations and the use of human shields, stating: “Conflict, displacement and economic collapse have combined to cause pain and misery across the country. Civilians are paying a terrible price. The number killed in violence in 2024 was the highest since the military launched their coup in 2021 […]. Most civilians were killed in brutal and indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery shelling by the military, as it continues to lose its grip on power. The targeting of schools, places of worship, healthcare facilities, displacement camps and public events caused mass civilian casualties and displacement.”
He reported that at least 1,824 people were killed in 2024 alone, including 531 women and 248 children, but emphasised that “these figures are probably a fraction of the real numbers as there is no verified information from several key areas where heavy fighting took place”.[16]
In Myanmar, political power, ethnic identity and religious affiliation are deeply intertwined. Although the ongoing conflict is not primarily religious in nature, it has had significant repercussions for religious freedom, which has deteriorated further during the reporting period. The military has long been associated with an extreme Burman Buddhist nationalist agenda[17] which is intolerant of non-Burman ethnic groups and non-Buddhist religious groups. In addition, places of worship are attacked because they are key community centres, and religious leaders are targeted because they are key figures in the community, often associated with civil society, humanitarian relief and ethnic resistance groups.[18]
Since the military takeover, there have been many reports of attacks on Christian churches. From 2021 until December 2023, observers estimated that over 220 churches had been destroyed throughout the country, including dozens of Catholic churches in Kayah (Karenni) State alone.[19] It is likely that this trend has persisted through 2024 and into early 2025.[20]
In January 2023, one of the oldest and most significant Catholic churches in the country, the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Chan Thar, Sagaing Region, was burnt down by soldiers. The nearby convent of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary was also set on fire The religious sisters were forced to flee, along with 3,000 villagers whose homes were also attacked.[21]
In August 2023, airstrikes damaged the Mary Mother of Mercy Church in Htee Thaw Ku, a village in Loikaw, Kayah State, as well as two Baptist churches in Chin State.[22]
On 26 November 2023, the Christ the King Cathedral pastoral centre in Loikaw, Kayah State, was shelled and occupied by soldiers the next day.[23] The local bishop, Bishop Celso Ba Shwe of Loikaw, had to flee together with priests, religious sisters, elderly people and patients who had taken refuge in the cathedral.[24]
In January 2024, soldiers burnt down a Catholic church in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region.[25]
The following month, on 5 February 2024, a village church in Demoso Township, Kayah State, was hit in an airstrike. On 11 and 12 May 2024, more airstrikes destroyed two churches, one Catholic and one Baptist, as well as several homes, in Tonzang Township, Chin State. On 15 August 2024, 11 civilians, including two children, died in an airstrike against a church in Kyeintali Town, Gwa Township, Rakhine State, while 11 people were severely injured.[26] On several occasions throughout 2024, as in previous years, churches, schools and homes were bombed in Mon Hla, Sagaing Region, Cardinal Charles Bo’s hometown.[27]
In February 2025, less than a fortnight after it was chosen as the cathedral of the newly created Diocese of Mindat, the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Mindat, Chin State, was hit by airstrikes.[28]
In March 2025, just the day before St Patrick’s Day, junta troops set fire to St Patrick’s Cathedral in Banmaw, Kachin State, completely destroying it.[29]
It is important to note that although a significant number of churches have been targeted since the coup, places of worship of other religions have also been affected. On 8 June 2024, for example, a Buddhist monastery in Sagaing Township, Sagaing Region, was hit from the air, killing 13 people, including three Buddhist monks.[30] Islamic mosques and Hindu temples have also been attacked.[31]
Accurate, up-to-date figures for the number of places of worship destroyed or damaged are difficult to obtain. A report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in 2023 found that between February 2021 and April 2023, 190 sites of religious or sacred significance were destroyed or damaged through sustained targeting by artillery shelling, airstrikes and arson. The ICJ found that the military regime was directly responsible for at least 158 of these attacks. In addition, 64 raids on religious sites and buildings of worship were reported in the same period across the country. Most were Buddhist sites, 15 were churches, five were Islamic places of worship and one was a Hindu temple. Military camps were set up in 110 religious buildings in 12 states and regions. The Tatmadaw violated these sites by conducting interrogations, detaining people, and even using these locations as killing fields.[32]
In addition to bombing, burning, destroying, desecrating and occupying places of worship, the junta also targeted religious leaders. The most prominent example was the arrest of the former president of the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC), Reverend Dr Hkalam Samson, at Mandalay International Airport on 5 December 2022. Reverend Samson, who served as KBC president from 2018-2022 and as general secretary for two terms before that, was accused of unlawful association, defaming the state, and terrorism, and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in April 2023.[33] In April 2024, the clergyman was released during an amnesty, but was rearrested within 24 hours. He was finally released in July 2024.[34]
Other religious leaders have been attacked as well. On 16 July 2023, a Baptist pastor and three church elders were abducted by the military from their church in Mindat, Chin State, and are believed to have been killed.[35]
On 18 March 2024, a Kachin Baptist pastor was gunned down in Mogaung Township, while on 12 April 2024, a Catholic priest was shot during Mass at St Patrick’s Church in Mohnyin, a village in Kachin State, by masked individuals.[36] On 19 June 2024, soldiers shot and killed the Venerable Bhaddanta Muninda Bhivamsa, a senior Buddhist monk, at a road checkpoint in Mandalay Region’s Ngazun Township.[37]
On 14 February 2025, Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a Catholic priest active in pastoral work and youth education, was murdered in Myanmar’s Sagaing region, an area under fragmented resistance control. Witnesses reported that about ten armed militants carried out the attack. The next day, PDF forces arrested ten suspects linked to local defence groups, and a court aligned with the National Unity Government later sentenced nine of them to 20 years in prison.[38]
In addition to Christians, Muslims, too, continue to face severe discrimination and repression, in particular, ethnic Rohingya in Rakhine State, where they continue to be the victims of atrocities. Already in 2017, they were subjected to crimes against humanity and genocide, which resulted in the exodus of more than 750,000 across the border into Bangladesh. Those who remain in Myanmar – numbering approximately 630,000 – live under what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described as “a system of apartheid that leaves them exceptionally vulnerable to renewed fighting”.[39]
The latest incident affecting Rohingya took place on 5 August 2024, when at least 200 Rohingya civilians died in drone and artillery attacks in Rakhine State’s Maungdaw Township as they sheltered on the banks of the Naf River along the Bangladesh border. In what became known as the “Naf River Massacre”, most victims were women and children, according to a statement by a group of Rohingya civil society groups. The same groups reported that the Rohingya had fled to the river from Maungdaw as a result of fighting between the rebel Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar’s military[40] and that, according to eyewitness reports, the drones and artillery had been launched from the areas under the control of the AA.[41]
“The Naf River Massacre follows a pattern of similar drone strikes by the AA on urban wards of Maungdaw town and its surrounding Rohingya villages in recent weeks, killing dozens of Rohingya civilians daily. It also follows ground reports indicating that Rohingya civilians are being strategically targeted by the AA and the Myanmar military with atrocities, in addition to being indiscriminately caught in the crossfire of their armed conflict.”[42] Human Rights Watch has confirmed these reports, quoting one 18-year-old villager saying that “the Naf River was full of dead Rohingya bodies as we fled,” while another reported that “many Rohingya villagers were killed and injured every day.”[43]
In February 2024, Myanmar’s military regime decided to implement a conscription law to require all men aged 18-35 and all women aged 18-37 to join the military. Thousands attempted to flee the country[44] or have gone into the jungle to join armed resistance groups in order to escape conscription.[45]
The military has also actively tried to conscript Rohingya even though they have been repeatedly denied citizenship since the introduction of the 1982 Citizenship Law. Under this legislation, only Myanmar citizens can serve in the Armed Forces.[46]
Cardinal Charles Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, has been a tireless and courageous voice for peace, justice, reconciliation, human rights and religious freedom. In an interview in May 2024, he described the country’s “unprecedented state of turmoil and suffering, which seems to have no end” and affects religious minorities: “The last decade saw the emergence of fundamentalist forces that targeted minority religions.” The situation has significantly worsened as a result of the escalation of violence following the coup d’état. According to Cardinal Bo, “The attack on places of worship has forced many congregations to abandon their churches, a significant blow to predominantly Christian communities such as Kachin.”[47]
Pope Francis too showed consistent concern about the situation in Myanmar. In November 2024, he prayed for the country, saying: “I express my sympathy for the entire population of Myanmar, especially for those suffering from the ongoing fighting, especially the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, the sick, refugees, including the Rohingya. To all the parties involved, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to lay down their arms, to begin a sincere, inclusive dialogue capable of ensuring lasting peace.”[48]
Prospects for freedom of religion
The military coup of 1 February 2021 triggered a severe human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, also leading to a marked deterioration in freedom of religion or belief. This period has seen escalating attacks on places of worship and on Christians, Muslims, and even Buddhist monks critical of the regime.
As long as the military retains power, the outlook for religious freedom will remain bleak. Meaningful improvement can occur only if a nationwide and lasting peace is achieved, alongside the establishment of a genuine multi-party federal democracy that upholds the human rights of people of all religions and ethnicities.
Sources
Myanmar (Burma)