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US government watchdog calls out Syria for religious freedom abuses

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended Egypt, Iraq and Turkey be added to the State Department's special watchlist for religious freedom offenders.
Nadia Murad, an Iraq Yazidi once held captive by the Islamic State, speaks during a religious freedom summit at the US Department of State on July 16, 2019, in Washington, DC.

Religious groups remain under threat across Syria, a US watchdog group said Wednesday, calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate the war-torn country as one of the world’s worst religious freedom offenders.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan federal government commission, has for the eighth year in a row recommended that the State Department categorize Syria as a “country of particular concern” for particularly severe violations of religious freedom in the past year. The department's list is currently comprised of 10 countries, including Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea and Iran.

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