Freedom of religion in Iraq
Islam is the official religion of Iraq, and the majority of the population is Muslim (97%). There are also small communities of Christians, Yazidis and Mandeans. Religion is deeply intertwined with daily life, government and politics of Iraq. However, the numbers of non-Muslim minority groups have declined dramatically in recent decades as the country has been riddled with sectarian tensions and conflict. This is reflected in the statistics of religious affiliations of Iraqi refugees in English-speaking countries; the majority of those who have fled and been resettled belong to minority religions in Iraq. For example, the 2011 Australian Census recorded that the majority of Iraq-born people living in Australia identified as Catholic Christians (35.7%), 32% identified as Muslim and 11.9% identified as Assyrian Apostolic Christians. A further 20.4% affiliated with some other faith and 1.6% claimed to be non-religious [1]. The majority in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, and are otherwise mostly found in Iraq’s south and east. Sunnis live predominantly in Iraq’s west, center and north. Religious communities must seek official registration; however, this is not possible for the majority of communities because requirements are often unreasonable. The government has also officially recognized a Christian’s right to observe Easter and Christmas, offering to provide increased protection to churches on these holidays. Students can study religion in public schools and in many regions can choose to study a religion other than Islam, though most students report that there is pressure to study Islam. While there is no legal penalty for conversion from Islam, there are nonetheless laws and regulations preventing conversion from Islam. If one parent converts to Islam and have children who are minors, their children are required to convert to Islam as well. Since 2003, at least half of Iraq’s Christians have fled the country.Chaldean Christians, Assyrian Christians, Sabean Mandeans and Yezidis are fleeing their lands, seeking refuge in northern Iraq and in the Kurdish Region of Iraq or else becoming refugees across the border [2]