- Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
- Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation (ACCORD)
- Wiedner Hauptstraße 32, 1041 Wien
- T +43 1 589 00 583
- F +43 1 589 00 589
- info@ecoi.net
Dokument #2111828
USDOS – US Department of State (Autor)
The constitution recognizes Buddhism as the state’s “spiritual heritage,” provides for freedom of religion, and bans discrimination based on religious belief. The constitution states religious institutions and personalities shall remain “above politics.” The law restricts speech and written communication that promotes or attempts to promote enmity among religious groups and requires religious groups to obtain licenses to hold public religious gatherings.
Unregistered religious groups, including Christians, reported being able to worship in private, although as unregistered groups, they were not permitted to organize publicly, own property, raise funds, conduct outreach activities, or import literature. According to the international Christian nongovernmental organization (NGO) Open Doors, no churches had obtained official state recognition, meaning any gatherings for worship were technically illegal. Christian groups continued to report their primary concern remained the inability to acquire burial plots and the lack of a governmental process to do so.
Open Doors reported some Buddhist monks opposed the presence of Christians, sometimes putting pressure on them to reconvert. According to the report, deviation from traditional Buddhist beliefs was regarded as disrupting culturally valued social harmony; family and community members also put pressure on converts to return to Buddhism. Open Doors also reported that non-Christian individuals sometimes disrupted meetings of Christians and questioned the legality of their meeting. Some Christian pastors reported societal discrimination against Christians had faded significantly over the years and was largely a problem of the past, although they said some converts experienced familial pressure to return to Buddhism.
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan; the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi oversees unofficial bilateral relations. In five visits to the country during the year, embassy personnel engaged government officials on religious freedom issues, including the country’s religious landscape, the status of religious minority groups, and government policies related to religious freedom. They also met with community and religious leaders and individuals from the country’s minority religious communities. Specific topics of discussion included the difficulty faced by Christian groups desiring to register as religious organizations and ongoing concerns about the prohibition on burying deceased congregants.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 876,200 (midyear 2023). In October, the National Statistics Bureau of Bhutan estimated the total population at 770,300, a decrease largely attributed to the outmigration of many citizens seeking employment and education opportunities abroad.
A 2020 report based on 2019 information by the World Christian Database estimates Buddhists comprised 83 percent of the population, Hindus 11 percent, and Christians 2.3 percent. Hindus reside mostly in southern areas adjacent to India. Christian pastors estimate 30,000 Christians reside in the country, comprising 250-300 congregations, mostly in the capital Thimphu and in towns in the south. According to scholars, although individuals often combine Bon (an indigenous Tibetan religious tradition) practices with Buddhist practices, very few citizens adhere exclusively to this religious tradition. The Sharchop ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population in the east, practices elements of Tibetan Buddhism combined with elements of the Bon tradition and Hinduism, according to scholars.
Prior to the pandemic, India’s Ministry of External Affairs estimated 60,000 Indian nationals lived in the country. Many, if not most, of this population departed during the COVID-19 pandemic and, while updated figures are not available, reporting indicates that only a fraction of the Indian nationals who left the country during the pandemic have returned. While there is no data on their religious affiliation, most foreign workers from India are likely Hindu and, in fewer numbers, Muslim.
The constitution recognizes Buddhism as the state’s “spiritual heritage” and stipulates it is “the responsibility of all religious institutions and personalities to promote the spiritual heritage of the country.” The constitution provides for freedom of thought, conscience, and religion and bans discrimination based on faith. The constitution says the King is a Buddhist and the “protector of all religions in Bhutan.”
The constitution also states, “No person shall be compelled to belong to another faith by means of coercion or inducement.” The Religious Organizations Act states, “No religious organization shall compel any person to belong to another faith by providing reward or inducement for a person to belong to another faith.” The penal code criminalizes “coercion or inducement to convert” as a misdemeanor, punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment. Neither “coercion” nor “inducement to convert” is defined in law or regulation.
The law prohibits oral and written communication “promoting enmity among religious groups” and provides for sentences of up to three years’ imprisonment for violations, but the government has not applied this law in recent years.
The penal code states individuals found guilty of promoting civil unrest by advocating “religious abhorrence,” disturbing public tranquility, or committing an act “prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony” among religious groups shall be subject to punishment of five to nine years’ imprisonment. Reportedly, the government has not applied this law in recent years.
The law requires religious groups to register with the Commission for Religious Organizations (CRO). To register, a religious group must submit an application demonstrating its leaders are citizens of the country and disclosing their educational backgrounds and financial assets. The law also specifies the organizational structure, bylaws, and procedural rules for registered religious organizations. It prohibits religious organizations from “violating the spiritual heritage” of the country and requires them to protect and promote it. The law also states no religious organization shall do anything to impair the sovereignty, security, unity, or territorial integrity of the country. It mandates that the CRO certify religious groups applying for registration meet the specified requirements. The CRO has the authority to determine whether a group has raised funds illegally. Sanctions include fines and potential revocation of registration.
Registered religious groups may raise funds for religious activities and are exempt from taxes. Registered groups require approval from local government authorities to hold public meetings outside their registered facilities and must seek approval from the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs to invite foreign speakers or receive foreign funds.
Unregistered religious groups may not organize public religious services, own property, raise funds, conduct outreach activities, or import literature. Penalties for unregistered organizations performing these activities range from fines to prison terms, depending on the offense. The law states it is an offense for a religious group to provide false or misleading information in its religious teachings, to misuse investments, or to raise funds illegally.
The law states the CRO shall consist of an eight-member board responsible for overseeing the structure of religious institutions, enforcing the constitutional separation between the government and religious organizations, and monitoring religious fundraising activities. The chairperson of the board is a cabinet minister appointed by the Prime Minister. A senior official from the Ministry of Finance and one of the King’s appointees to the National Council also sit on the board. The director of culture in the Ministry of Home Affairs serves ex officio as secretary. Heads of Buddhist religious organizations and the Hindu Dharma Samudaya, a registered Hindu organization, occupy the remaining seats. There are no set term limits for the CRO. The law requires the CRO to “ensure that religious institutions and personalities promote the spiritual heritage of the country” by developing a society “rooted in Buddhist ethos.”
The constitution states the King shall appoint the chief abbot of the country’s Central Monastic Body (CMB), on the advice of the five masters of the Buddhist monastic body. Those individuals and a civil servant administrative secretary make up the Commission for Monastic Affairs, which manages issues related to Buddhist doctrine. There are no set term limits for the CMB. The constitution directs the state to provide funds and “facilities” to the CMB.
The law permits the government to “avoid breaches of the peace” by requiring licenses for public assembly, prohibiting assembly in designated areas, and imposing curfews. The government may apply these measures to groups and organizations of all kinds, including religious groups.
Government approval is required to construct religious buildings. By law, all buildings, including religious structures, must adhere to traditional architectural standards. The CRO determines conformity with these standards.
The constitution states religious institutions and personalities have the responsibility to ensure that “religion remains separate from politics in Bhutan.” It also states, “Religious institutions and personalities shall remain above politics.” The law also prohibits religious organizations from involvement in political activity. Ordained members of the clergy of any religion may not engage in political activities, including running for office and voting.
The country is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
At the end of 2022, the most recent year government information was available, there were 139 registered religious groups, of which 137 were Hindu and two were Buddhist.” The CRO again took no action on any pending Christian church registration requests and again did not offer any official explanation to applicants.
Unregistered religious groups, including Christians, reported being able to worship in private, although unregistered groups were not permitted to organize publicly, own property, raise funds, conduct outreach activities, or import literature. According to Open Doors, no churches had obtained official state recognition, meaning any gatherings for worship were technically illegal. Some pastors reported they were able to worship freely in homes and offices, but not in churches.
Christian groups continued to report that their primary concern remained the inability to acquire burial plots and the lack of a governmental process to do so. Some groups consequently buried their dead in undeveloped areas away from settlements. One Christian group said there was no official directive requiring cremation of the dead, but that due to widespread cultural practice, government officials generally assumed cremation would be practiced by all groups, including Christians, Hindus, and Indigenous minorities, who would prefer to bury deceased members. Pastors said Christians had little influence on this issue.
Some Christian pastors stated their congregations no longer experienced difficulties in obtaining the “nonobjection certificates” from local authorities required for loan and employment applications, property registration, and renewing identification cards. The pastors said this had not been an issue “for a while.”
The government continued to provide financial assistance for the construction of Buddhist temples and shrines as well as funding for Buddhist monks and monasteries.
Some courts and other government institutions remained housed in or adjacent to Buddhist monasteries. Some religious groups said government ceremonies continued to involve mandatory Buddhist prayer rituals.
The government continued to recognize significant Buddhist and Hindu religious holidays as public holidays. The government did not recognize any Christian holidays as public holidays.
Members of the Hindu Dharmic Samudaya continued to cite strong official support for Hindu religious practice.
According to a January Open Doors report, some Buddhist monks opposed the presence of Christians, sometimes putting pressure on them to reconvert. According to the report, deviation from traditional Buddhist beliefs was regarded as disrupting culturally valued social harmony; family and community members also put pressure on converts to return to Buddhism. Open Doors also reported that, at the local level, non-Christian individuals sometimes disrupted meetings of Christians and questioned the legality of their meeting. Some Christian pastors said societal discrimination had faded significantly over the years and was lower than in the past, but that there was still some family pressure on recent converts to return to Buddhism.
The United States does not have formal diplomatic relations with Bhutan. The U.S. Embassy in New Delhi oversees unofficial bilateral relations. During the year, embassy representatives visited Bhutan five times and engaged government officials on religious freedom issues, including the country’s religious landscape, the status of religious minority groups, and government policies related to religious freedom. They also met with leaders from the country’s religious minority communities, including Christian pastors and residents. Specific topics of discussion included the difficulty faced by Christian groups desiring to register as religious organizations and ongoing concerns about the prohibition on burying deceased congregants.
ecoi.net wird vom Österreichischen Roten Kreuz (Abteilung ACCORD) in Kooperation mit dem Informationsverbund Asyl & Migration betrieben. ecoi.net wird durch den Asyl-, Migrations- und Integrationsfonds, das Bundesministerium für Inneres und die Caritas Österreich kofinanziert. ecoi.net wird von ECRE und UNHCR ideell unterstützt.
