It’s been over a year since the Central Asian state of Turkmenistan added further restrictions to its Religion Law, but the changes were introduced in such secrecy that few knew about them until well after the event.
It wasn’t until January this year that regional news agency Forum 18 shed some light on the changes, which will mostly affect smaller religious denominations such as evangelical churches.
The most significant change is the need for all religious groups to re-register by providing the full names, addresses and dates of birth of at least 50 members (it used to be five.)
Rolf Zeegers, regional analyst for the charity Open Doors, says that although the requirement for churches to register is ‘nothing new’, some churches will find it ‘as good as impossible’ to find 50 signatories.
“Practically all countries in Central Asia require registration with the authorities before religious communities can function,” he says. “All unregistered communities are strictly illegal.”
However, he adds: “This doesn’t mean they don’t exist: all over Central Asia there are secret house churches. If the authorities learn about them, they will be raided, while those present will be interrogated, detained (for a short period) and fined.
“What is new for Turkmenistan is the obligation for religious communities already registered to apply again, but now under much more difficult stipulations. There will be churches that will find it as good as impossible to produce 50 people willing to openly support the religious community. This will immediately put them on the radar of the authorities and will undoubtedly result in surveillance by the secret police.”
(World Watch Monitor)