Religious segregation is the separation of
people according to their religion. The term
has been applied to cases of religious-based
segregation occurring as a social phenomenon,
as well as to segregation arising from laws,
whether explicit or implicit.The similar term
religious apartheid has also been used for
situations where people are separated based
on religion, including sociological phenomena.
== Northern Ireland ==
In Northern Ireland religious segregation
has been a phenomenon which increased in many
areas, particularly in the capital city of
Belfast and Derry. This trend increased since
the Troubles, a protracted series of conflicts
and tensions between Roman Catholics and Protestants
from the late 1960s to the late 2000s. Segregation
does not occur everywhere. State schools are
non-denominational, but many Roman Catholics
send their children to Roman Catholic Maintained
Schools.
In government housing, most people will choose
to be housed within their own communities.
This segregation is most common with lower
income people in larger towns and cities,
and where there has been heightened levels
of violence.
In 2012 Foreign Policy reported: The number
of "peace walls," physical barriers separating
Catholic and Protestant communities, has increased
sharply since the first ceasefires in 1994.
Most people in the region cannot envisage
the barriers being removed, according to a
recent survey conducted by the University
of Ulster. In housing and education, Northern
Ireland remains one of the most segregated
tracts of land anywhere on the planet -- less
than one in 10 children attends a school that
is integrated between Catholics and Protestant.
This figure has remained stubbornly low despite
the cessation of violence.
== Iran ==
Shi'a Islam has been the state religion of
Iran since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
While Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism
are officially recognized and legally protected
religious minorities, they are not allowed
to evangelize or allow Muslim Iranians to
convert to their faiths. The U.S. State Department
has claimed that religious minorities have
been subject to harassment and religious persecution.Other
religious minorities like the Bahá'í are
not recognized by the government and thus
do not have any legal protections nor the
constitutional right to practice their religion.
The Muslim Network for Bahá'í Rights has
reported cases of Bahá'í students being
expelled from university due to their religion.
According to the Times Higher Education, Bahá'í
educators are required to renounce their faith
in order to teach in Iranian universities.
Due to its heterodox beliefs, the Bahá'í
faith is officially considered a heretical
movement
because of the Bahá'í belief that Bahá'u'lláh
is a divinely ordained prophet in contradiction
of the Qur'an, which asserts that Muhammad
is the last and final messenger sent to mankind.
== Pakistan ==
Pakistan is officially an Islamic country
and defines who and who is not a Muslim. Under
these conditions, Ahmadi Muslims are declared
non-Muslim by law of the land and cannot practice
their faith freely. They are not permitted
to call their mosques as mosques, or meet
with people with the Islamic greeting of Peace.
Ahmadi Muslims are excluded from government
and any other high-profile positions within
Pakistan. There have been cases when the Ahmadi
Muslims have been expelled from schools, colleges
and universities, for being Ahmadi Muslim.
Once the entire population of Rabwah, the
Pakistani headquarters of Ahmadi Muslims was
charged under Anti-Ahmadiyya laws.
== Saudi Arabia ==
Prior to March 1, 2004, the official Saudi
government website stated that Jews were forbidden
from entering the country, however, it was
not enforced into practice.In the City of
Mecca, only Muslims are allowed. Non-Muslims
may not enter or travel through Mecca; attempting
to enter Mecca as a non-Muslim can result
in penalties such as a fine; being in Mecca
as a non-Muslim can result in deportation.In
the City of Medina, both Muslims and Non-Muslims
are allowed in. The exception are non-Muslims
entering the Nabawi Square, where the Al-Masjid
Al-Nabawi is located.
== Nepal ==
On the banks of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu,
Nepal is a Pashupatinath Temple dedicated
to Pashupatinath. This temple complex which
is on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites's list
since 1979 was erected anew in the 15th century
by King kirat Yalamber.
Entry into the inner courtyard is strictly
monitored by the temple security, which is
selective of who is allowed inside. Practicing
Hindus and Buddhists of Indian and Tibetan
descendant are only allowed into temple courtyard.
Practicing Hindus and Buddhistes of other
than Nepali, Indian, Tibetan descent are not
allowed into the temple complex along with
other non Hindu visitors. Others can look
at the main temple from adjacent side of the
river.
== India ==
The debate over the ban on non-Hindus entering
Hindu temples began around 30 years ago when
singer Yesudas, who planned to take part in
a music programme, was stopped at the Guruvayur
temple gate. He finally had to sing bhajans
outside the temple wall. Though several temples
in Kerala have signs saying that non-Hindus
are denied entry, few of them enforce it as
strictly as the Guruvayur temple, which insists
on following its distinct traditions. 'Only
Orthodox Hindus are allowed’, reads a signboard
hanging from the Lion's Gate of the Sri Jagannath
Temple in Puri. The issue has triggered many
a controversy in the past and continues to
arouse strong feelings even today.The temple
is an important pilgrimage destination for
many Hindu traditions and part of the Char
Dham pilgrimages that a Hindu is expected
to make in one's lifetime.In the past a number
of dignitaries, including former prime minister
Indira Gandhi, had not been allowed to enter
the 12th century shrine because she had married
a Parsi, Feroze Gandhi. In 2005, the Queen
of Thailand Mahachakri Siridharan was not
allowed inside the temple as she was a follower
of Buddhism.In 2006, the shrine did not allow
a citizen of Switzerland named Elizabeth Jigler,
who had donated 17.8 million Indian Rupees
to the temple because she was a Christian.
Kashi Vishvanath In Varanasi
Located in Varanasi, the temple stands on
the western bank of the holy river Ganga,
and is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, the
holiest of Shiva temples. The most famous
of the many temples in Varanasi is the one
dedicated to Vishveswara -- Shiva as lord
of the universe.
Non-Hindus are not allowed inside the temple,
although this is not always enforced. On the
northern side of Vishwanath Temple is the
Gyan Kupor well. Non-Hindus are strictly not
allowed to enter here.
== Bahrain ==
== 
Myanmar ==
The 2012 Rakhine State riots are a series
of ongoing conflicts between Rohingya Muslims
and ethnic Rakhine in northern Rakhine State,
Myanmar. The riots came after weeks of sectarian
disputes and have been condemned by most people
on both sides of the conflict.
The immediate cause of the riots is unclear,
with many commentators citing the killing
of ten Burmese Muslims by ethnic Rakhine after
the rape and murder of a Rakhine woman as
the main cause.Whole villages have been "decimated".
Over three hundred houses and a number of
public buildings have been razed. According
to Tun Khin, the President of the Burmese
Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), as of 28
June 650 Rohingyas have been killed, 1,200
are missing, and more than 80,000 have been
displaced. According to the Myanmar authorities,
the violence, between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists
and Rohingya Muslims, left 78 people dead,
87 injured, and thousands of homes destroyed.
It also displaced more than 52,000 people.The
government has responded by imposing curfews
and by deploying troops in the region. On
10 June 2012, a state of emergency was declared
in Rakhine, allowing the military to participate
in the administration of the region. The Burmese
army and police have been accused of targeting
Rohingya Muslims through mass arrests and
arbitrary violence. A number of monks' organisations
that played a vital role in Burma's struggle
for democracy have taken measures to block
any humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya
community.
In July 2012, the Myanmar Government did not
include the Rohingya minority group–-classified
as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh
since 1982—on the government's list of more
than 130 ethnic races and therefore the government
says that they have no claim to Myanmar citizenship.According
to Amnesty International, the Muslim Rohingya
people have continued to suffer from human
rights violations under the Burmese junta
since 1978, and many have fled to neighbouring
Bangladesh as a result.As of 2005, the UNHCR
(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
had been assisting with the repatriation of
Rohingya from Bangladesh, but allegations
of human rights abuses in the refugee camps
have threatened this effort.Despite earlier
efforts by the UN, the vast majority of Rohingya
refugees have remained in Bangladesh, unable
to return because of the regime in Myanmar.
Now they face problems in Bangladesh where
they do not receive support from the government.
In February 2009, many Rohingya refugees were
helped by Acehnese sailors in the Strait of
Malacca, after 21 days at sea.{verification
failed|date=February 2019}}
Over the years thousands of Rohingya also
have fled to Thailand. There are roughly 111,000
refugees housed in nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar
border. There have been charges that groups
of them have been shipped and towed out to
open sea from Thailand, and left there. In
February 2009, there was evidence of the Thai
army towing a boatload of 190 Rohingya refugees
out to sea. A group of refugees rescued by
Indonesian authorities also in February 2009
told harrowing stories of being captured and
beaten by the Thai military, and then abandoned
at open sea. By the end of February, there
were reports that of a group of five boats
were towed out to open sea, of which four
boats sank in a storm, and one washed up on
the shore. February 12, 2009 Thailand's prime
minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said there were
"some instances" in which Rohingya people
were pushed out to sea.
"There are attempts, I think, to let these
people drift to other shores. [...] when these
practices do occur, it is done on the understanding
that there is enough food and water supplied.
[...] It's not clear whose work it is [...] but
if I have the evidence who exactly did this
I will bring them to account." [1]
== See also
