A new study revealed that religious-based violence and abuse across the world grow from 2006 through 2009. Topping the list were Christian and Muslim minorities in their respective countries, said the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion and Public Life study. “Over the three-year period studied, incidents of either government or social harassment were reported against Christians in 130 countries (66 percent) and against Muslims in 117 countries (59 percent),” said the study. According to the study, in 2009, governments of some 101 countries, more than half across the world, employed some force against religious groups. The year before, only 91 countries had done so, the report revealed. As of 2009, more than 2.2 billion people, or nearly a third of the world's population of 6.9 billion, lived in countries where religious restrictions had risen substantially since 2006, the study said. In regional terms, the Middle East and North Africa had the highest proportion of countries in which government-imposed restrictions hampered people's freedom to practice their faith. Egypt, under now-deposed leader Hosni Mubarak, stood out, earning itself a ranking in the top five percent of all countries in 2009 for government-imposed restrictions such as a long-standing ban on the Muslim Brotherhood, and for social hostilities based on religion, including attacks against Christians and sectarian violence. Researchers at Pew, led by senior fellow Brian Grim, delved over 18 publicly available sources of information including reports by the State Department, the United Nations, the Council of the European Union, and several rights groups to score each country on how tolerant it was of different religions. Egypt topped the list of countries with very high government restrictions on religion, ahead of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, China, the Maldives, Malaysia, Myanmar, Eritrea and Indonesia. The country with the highest rate of religious-linked social hostilities was Iraq, followed by India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia, Indonesia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Israel and Egypt. No European country was in the top 10, but five of those which saw the highest increase in religious-based hostility were in Europe, including Great Britain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Russia and Sweden. BM
