Draft laws in Myanmar aimed at protecting the country's majority Buddhist identity by regulating religious conversions and marriages between people of different faiths have "no place in the 21st century" and should be withdrawn, a United States government agency said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said the laws risked stoking violence against Muslims and other religious minorities, including Christians. If the laws are passed, it said, Washington "should factor these negative developments into its evolving relationship with Burma (Myanmar)," Reuters reported.
The U.S. State Department said it had serious concerns about the pending legislation and had expressed them to the government of Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, according to Reuters.
State Department spokeswoman Jan Psaki told a regular news briefing that any measure that would criminalize interfaith marriages "would be inconsistent with the government's efforts to promote tolerance and respect for human rights," Reuters reported.
The chairman of the commission, Robert George, called the proposed law against religious conversions "irreparably flawed" and said it would contravene Myanmar's international commitments to protect freedom of religion or belief, according to Reuters.
"Such a law has no place in the 21st century, and we urge that it be withdrawn," George said, according to Reuters.
The law as published in draft form last month would require those seeking to change their religion to obtain permission from panels of government officials, Reuters reported.
The government has yet to publish drafts of other three bills, which deal with population control measures, a ban on polygamy and curbs on interfaith marriage, according to Reuters.
George said the commission recently recommended that Washington continue to designate Myanmar a "country of particular concern" for severe religious freedom violations, Reuters reported.
Late last month, Myanmar began a parliamentary session that will debate the proposed legislation, according to Reuters. The government has said it will accept comments on the religious conversion law until June 20.
