Ten years ago, the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched a campaign of mass atrocities to achieve the religious and ethnic cleansing of Yazidis, Assyrian-Chaldean-Syriac Christians, Shi’a and Sunni Muslim Turkmens, Shabaks, and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department determined ISIS’s atrocities against Yazidis, Christians, and Shi’a Muslims constituted crimes against humanity and genocide. In 2019, an international coalition defeated ISIS’s last territorial hold in Iraq and Syria. However, ten years on, survivors face multiple threats to their religious freedom, security, and existence within their homelands.

Jamileh Naso, President, Canadian Yazidi Association; Nadia Cavner, Philanthropist and Advocate for Assyrians; and Dr. Ali Akram Albayati, Co-Founder, Turkmen Rescue Foundation join USCIRF Senior Policy Analyst Susan Bishai to discuss religious minorities’ ongoing struggles to rebuild in the region.

Read USCIRF’s 2024 Annual Report Chapter on Iraq and view USCIRF's Hearing on Religious Minorities & Governance in Iraq.

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new report:

Saudi Arabia Country Update – This report provides an overview of the situation of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Saudi Arabia and is largely informed by an official USCIRF trip to the country in March 2024. While identifying FoRB-related government reforms that have been implemented gradually in recent years, the report addresses key issues that emerged in consultations with civil society and Saudi government officials during the trip. These issues include: the changing role of religion and national identity; systematic barriers to religious freedom in the judicial system; education curriculum reform; the Saudi legal apparatus; and the targeting of religious minorities, women, and other vulnerable groups on the basis of religion. It encourages U.S. leaders to center religious freedom as an essential component of the U.S.-Saudi bilateral relationship and the implementation of Vision 2030.

In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. State Department re-designate Saudi Arabia as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) for engaging in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, and lift the national security waiver releasing the administration from taking otherwise legislatively mandated action as a result of the designation.

###

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].

USCIRF Releases New Report on Religious Freedom in Turkey

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)  released the following new report:

Turkey Country Update – This report examines religious freedom developments in the first half of 2024, as well as ongoing factors affecting freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) within Turkey. It outlines how Turkish religious nationalism has contributed to these restrictions and explains the violations religious minority communities, dissenting Sunni Muslims, and secularists in Turkey continue to face. The report also notes attacks by nonstate actors on the basis of religion.

In its 2024 Annual Report, USCIRF recommended that the U.S. Department of State include Turkey on its Special Watch List (SWL) for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom. In November 2023, USCIRF published a special report examining threats to religious sites in Turkey.

###

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan federal government entity established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a Commissioner, please contact USCIRF at [email protected].