Myanmar’s president signed of four bills that had been championed by radical Buddhist organisations and criticised by several rights groups as discriminatory to the Islamic community.
The last week saw the president sign bills on restricting polygamy, interfaith marriage and certain aspects of religious conversation reports Reuters.
The legislation forms part of the “Race and Religion Protection Laws” set of bills championed by the monk led Committee for the Protection of Nationality and Religion in Myanmar (Ma Ba Tha).
Commenting on the laws, the deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, Phol Robertson, said,
“They set out the potential for discrimination on religious grounds and pose the possibility for serious communal tension. Now that these laws are on the books, the concern is how they are implemented and enforced.”