Displaying results 1 - 11 of 11

Religious Freedom Priorities for the Biden Administration
Feb 4, 2021   As the Biden administration begins to formulate its broader human rights policy, USCIRF highlights several priority countries when it comes to international religious freedom. Condemning and preventing…
The Situation in Sinjar
Feb 18, 2021   In recent years, northern Iraq has become a battleground for Turkish armed forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). In June 2020, Turkey escalated their attacks in the region, announcing military…
Shifting Trends of Religious Freedom in Egypt
Mar 19, 2021 Egypt has historically faced many challenges to religious freedom. There has been recurring violence and discrimination against Coptic Christians, who represent 10-15% of the population, as well as other…
Refugee Resettlement and Religious Freedom
Apr 30, 2021 The program to resettle refugees to the United States has existed since 1980, with strong bipartisan support. Earlier this month, President Biden signed an emergency declaration to speed up refugee admissions into…
Qur’anists in Egypt
Jul 23, 2021 Egypt is home to over 100 million people—of which the majority identify as Sunni Muslim with a significant Coptic Christian minority. A variety of smaller religious minorities also call Egypt home such as Baha’is,…
Iraq’s Beleaguered Religious Minority Communities
Feb 25, 2022 Many of the religious communities that call Iraq home have suffered from conflict and displacement in recent decades. The civil war in Iraq in the 2000s led large numbers of Christians and other small religious…
Recovering from Genocide: The Yazidis’ Return to Sinjar
Nov 4, 2022 Since 2014, when ISIS launched its genocidal campaign against the Yazidis—a minority ethno-religious group within the Kurdish-majority areas of Iraq, Syria, Iran and Turkey, as well as in Armenia–hundreds of…
Differences Between Religious Tolerance and Religious Freedom
Jan 5, 2023 Authoritarian states promote religious tolerance without necessarily ensuring freedom of religion or belief. Last month, USCIRF released a report distinguishing between these two concepts and explains the origins of religious tolerance…
10 Years On: Ongoing Threats to Religious Minority Survivors of ISIS’s Genocide
Aug 2, 2024 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,…
Responses to Genocide: Two Former U.S. Officials Reflect on ISIS’s Genocide in Iraq and Syria
Aug 9, 2024 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 religious minority groups in Iraq and Syria. In 2016, the U.S. State Department…
Egypt's Continued Repression of Religious Minorities
Dec 30, 2025  The Egyptian government continues to systematically restrict freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) by enforcing laws, policies, and judicial decisions that repress non-Muslim and Muslim religious minority communities. Such FoRB violations…