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Dokument #2111920
USDOS – US Department of State (Autor)
The constitution prohibits discrimination based on creed and provides for the right of individuals to change, manifest, and propagate their religious beliefs. The government recognizes seven groups as religions: Hindus, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Seventh-day Adventists, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Church of Jesus Christ). Other religious groups must register as associations.
During the year, the government again deferred acting on a request of approximately 20 years standing by the Assembly of God to be recognized as a religion. The government has not recognized any new religious groups since 1985, and the lack of recognition has meant that newborn infants could not be registered as Assembly of God members and its pastors had limited access to hospitals and prisons. Some Christians and Muslims continued to state that the predominance of Hindus in the civil service favored Hindus in government recruitment and promotion.
In October, an armed crowd of approximately 30 young Muslim men interrupted a charity concert and forced attendees to disperse. According to press reports, they were attempting to prevent the playing of a song by a prominent Jewish-American musician in the wake of Israel’s military action in Gaza following the October 7 terrorist attacks. The Council of Religions continued to host regular interfaith religious ceremonies and celebrations to foster mutual understanding and enhance interfaith collaboration among faith communities.
The Ambassador met with the leaders of the Council of Religions to discuss the efforts of government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to promote comity among religious groups, and the Council of Religions’ efforts to develop a school curriculum on religious diversity in Mauritius. The Ambassador and other diplomats also met with leaders of the Jewish and Muslim communities following tensions in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. U.S. Embassy officials also met regularly with religious leaders and members of parliament representing different religious communities to discuss the increasing prevalence of religious identity in Mauritian politics and political parties as well as the state of religious freedom in a multireligious and multiethnic country. The embassy routinely posted messages on social media platforms on religious holidays that amplified respect for religious freedom.
The U.S. government estimates the total population at 1.3 million (midyear 2023). According to the 2011 census, the most recent for which data on religious affiliation was released, approximately 48 percent of the population is Hindu, 26 percent Roman Catholic, 17 percent Muslim, and 6 percent non-Catholic Christian, including Seventh-day Adventists, Anglicans, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, evangelical Protestants, Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and members of the Assembly of God. According to Assembly of God officials, the denomination is the second-largest Christian group after Catholics, with approximately 100,000 members, or almost 8 percent of the population. The remaining 3 percent include Buddhists, Baha’is, animists, and individuals who report no religious affiliation. There are an estimated 5,000 Rastafarians in the country, a majority of whom are of African descent. More than 95 percent of Muslims are Sunni. According to the Jewish community representatives, there are 100-200 Jews.
According to the 2011 census, the population of Port Louis is primarily Muslim and Catholic, while the remainder of the country’s population is predominantly Hindu with concentrations of Catholics and Muslims in some regions including the island of Rodrigues, which contains approximately 3 percent of the country’s population and is approximately 90 percent Catholic.
There is a strong correlation between religious affiliation, ethnicity, and political and socioeconomic status in the country. Citizens of Indian ethnicity are primarily Hindu or Muslim. Those of Chinese ancestry generally practice Buddhism, Anglicanism, or Catholicism. Creoles (persons of African descent) and those of European descent are primarily Catholic. There is also a correlation between religious identification and political party membership.
The constitution prohibits discrimination based on creed and provides for freedom of thought and religion, including the right of individuals to change, manifest, and propagate their religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice, and observance, alone or in community, in private or in public. These rights may be subject to limitations to protect public order, safety, morality, health, or the rights of others. The constitution also bars requiring oaths contrary to an individual’s religious belief and bars compulsory religious education or attendance at religious ceremonies in schools. It gives religious groups the right to establish schools and provide religious instruction to members of that group. The schools are open to the population of other religious groups as well. Citizens may file religious discrimination complaints with the Equal Opportunities Commission, which may open an investigation if it determines a citizen’s rights may have been infringed.
The constitution states that legislative candidates must identify themselves as belonging to one of the four national communities cited in the constitution: Hindu, Muslim, Sino-Mauritian, or General Population. General Population is defined by the constitution as anyone who by “their way of life” does not fall into the prior three categories but is generally viewed as including those of European, African, and mixed heritage, a large majority of whom are Catholic. Sino-Mauritians are primarily Catholic, Anglican, or Buddhist.
The criminal code prohibits inciting racial or religious hatred through words, actions, or publication.
Parliamentary decrees recognize the six main religious groups present prior to independence in 1968 (Hindus, Catholics, Muslims, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Seventh-day Adventists) as well as the Church of Jesus Christ, which was recognized in 1985. These groups receive annual lump sum payments from the finance ministry based on the number of members who identified as such during the last census. The registrar of associations registers other religious groups, which must have a minimum of seven members with designated leadership responsibilities. The finance ministry may grant these other groups tax-exempt privileges. Although registration of religious groups is required, the law does not prescribe penalties for unregistered groups.
Religious groups must obtain both residence and work permits for each foreign missionary. The Prime Minister’s office is the final authority on the issuance of these documents. The government grants residence permits to foreign missionaries for a period of three years, with the possibility of renewal for another three-year mandate.
Religious education is allowed in public and private schools at both the primary and secondary levels. The Catholic catechism is taught in all Catholic schools, and, on demand, in public schools, generally by lay members of the staff. Students may opt out. Catholic schools offer civic education classes for non-Catholic students. Nonreligious classes about Islam and Hinduism are offered in private and public high schools. Religious classes in those faiths take place outside the school system.
The country is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
As in previous years, the government deferred action on recognizing the Assembly of God, a Pentecostal denomination, as a religion. The denomination has petitioned the government for such recognition for more than 20 years. As of year’s end, the group was still considered an association. The government has not provided a reason for its inaction. Religious and civil society sources stated they believed the government did not want to add the Assembly of God to the list of recognized religions, as the church increasingly drew membership from Hindu converts. A pastor from the Assembly of God said that because the group was not considered a religious group, newborn infants could not be registered as Assembly of God members and its pastors had limited access to hospitals and prisons. The government did not offer a reason for not legally recognizing any religious group since 1985, when it extended recognition to the Church of Jesus Christ. Consequently, other religious groups continued to have status only as associations.
Some Christians and Muslims continued to state that the predominance of Hindus in the civil service favored Hindus in government recruitment and promotion, preventing Christians and Muslims from reaching higher level positions in the civil service. In general, and dating back years, non-Hindus have stated they were underrepresented in government, the civil service, and the security services.
Following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, government officials highlighted efforts to prevent violence and extremism and to taking appropriate law enforcement action against perpetrators of violence.
Sources stated the mostly Catholic Creole community has long been statistically underrepresented in the business sphere compared with the Hindu community. While the Council of Religions, a local organization composed of representatives from 18 religious groups, continued to say that religious communities coexisted peacefully overall, some sources stated that there continued to be low-level tensions between Hindus and Muslims.
On October 21, an armed crowd of approximately 30 young Muslim men interrupted a charity concert held at venue between two Muslim majority neighborhoods in Port Louis and forced attendees to disperse. According to press reports and WhatsApp messages sympathetic to the action, the mob was attempting to prevent the playing of a song written by a prominent Jewish-American musician as a means of protesting Israeli military operations in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. Other senior government and religious figures stated that the protest might have been in reaction to a pride march held in support of LGBTQI+ rights earlier during that day. The disturbance drew immediate condemnation from across the political spectrum, including Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, and led to numerous arrests.
On November 16, the Office of the Director of Prosecutions announced that two men were formally accused of aiding and abetting, manslaughter, and attempted murder in the 2021 case in which a passenger on a motorcycle shot and killed a prominent Hindu figure, Manan Fakhoo. Police said they suspected the killers targeted Fakhoo because he had participated in the beating of a man who converted to Islam from Hinduism, after the latter posted a video on social media disparaging Hinduism. In 2022, police arrested eight persons connected to the shooting and multiple persons connected to the beating who were all later released on bail.
The Council of Religions traditionally hosted regular interfaith religious ceremonies and celebrations to foster mutual understanding and enhance interfaith collaboration among faith communities and continued to do so including interfaith prayers hosted by private sector companies and a workshop to prevent the stigmatization of LGBTQI+ persons and groups.
The Ambassador met with the leaders of the Council of Religions to discuss government and NGO efforts to promote comity among religious groups and the council’s efforts to develop a school curriculum on religious diversity in Mauritius and individual rights, as well as to better understand its efforts to engage with LGBTQI+ persons and groups. The Ambassador and embassy officials also met with leaders of the Jewish and Muslim communities in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Embassy officials regularly met with religious leaders to discuss religious freedom and the challenging dynamics in a multireligious and multiethnic country as part of an ongoing outreach program. Numerous religious communities invited embassy representatives to attend events they sponsored, many of which were attended by the Ambassador and embassy officials.
During the year, the embassy regularly posted messages on social media platforms on observed religious public holidays that amplified respect for religious freedom.
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