Myanmar festivals

Myanmar is a country with many different religions and throughout the year there are several festivals that will celebrate all of them. However, despite the religious diversity of the country, those who are not Buddhist will generally be persecuted. This is not a subtle form of persecution and generally those who are not Buddhist will find it impossible to get a job in the government, or be employed in the military.

While this might not be such a major problem for many people in the developed world, in Myanmar government and military work is one of the best routes to success. It is estimated the persecution of religion is particularly significant in the east of the country where it is estimated that 3000 villages have been destroyed in the past decade for religious reasons. Furthermore over 200,000 people from the country have escaped Myanmar and moved to Bangladesh in order to avoid persecution.

90 percent of the population state that they are Buddhist and despite the persecution as a general rule other religions can be practised freely. However some very small religions continue to be denied citizenship to the country and this means that they do not get state services such as education.

It is estimated that four percent of the population are Christian, four percent are Islamic and the other one percent is made up of minor religions. A report about religious freedom issued by the United States government in 2010 found that there were other small religions in Myanmar. One particular example pointed out by the survey showed that there was a synagogue in one town, but there was not even a rabbi to conduct services for the small Jewish community there.