Yangon Model United Nations, 2019 | X Annual Session ​

Forum: Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)

Issue: Mitigating the Economic and Social Outcome of Religious Prejudice

Student Officer: Nang Mwe Hom Kham

Introduction

"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."- Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18

In today’s globalized and interconnected world, religious antagonism has taken the 21st century by a storm.The terrorist attacks of 9/11 led to wars in and out of US borders (Iraq, Afghanistan). As a result of the attacks, the number of discrimination cases over the last decade have risen significantly especially against underrepresented religious communities and Muslims. According to a global study conducted worldwide the report shows that more than 86 out of 100 people have said to be victims of religious prejudice. (BBC, 2017). Pew Research Center shows that between 2010 and 2050, the growth of religious populations worldwide is projected to be 23 times larger than the growth of religiously unaffiliated populations.(Grim,2015) These violence and hostilities cause a rise in government restrictions on religious freedom. These events show that religious extremism can start wars and major economic disruptions.

Religious intolerance often takes in two forms either as an individual/a group’s belief or government policies. Different forms: “intra-faith intolerance (e.g. Shiite vs. Sunni Muslims), inter-faith ​ intolerance (e.g. Hindu-Christian conflict), intolerance from a faith group against a secular group (e.g. Christians fundamentalists vs. Atheists) and intolerance by a secular group against a religious group (e.g. feminists vs. some organized religions.)” (Exarchou, 2)

According to a study done by the World Economic Forum in 2014, the report show that the 12 most religiously diverse countries were found to have above average economic growth (< 4% per year). If a country does not have religious stability, foreign investors are less likely to invest in that country. Even the act of hiring employees are affected by religious discrimination, and this in a business environment decreases economic output. (World Economic Forum, 2014)

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Definition of Key Terms

Religion

Religion is a “shared set of beliefs, activities and institutions premised upon faith in supernatural forces” (Iannaccone, 1466)

Religious Freedom

The United Nations states that it is the right to choose a religion (or no religion) without any interference of the government, the right to freely practice one’s religion, to gather fellow supporters of the religion, etc without being discriminated by anybody.

Religious Intolerance

An act which occurs when a society is unwilling to accept views, beliefs, behaviours and customs and the right to practice one's beliefs on religious grounds.

Economic Growth

According to the Cambridge dictionary, the definition of ‘Economic Growth’ is when there is “an increase in the economy of the country/area primarily in the value of goods and services the country/area produces.”

GDP per Capita

A measure of a country’s economic output that is accounted for its number of people.

Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when a person who is actively searching for employment is unable to find work.

History

Europe during the 15th and 16th century

The study of whether religion and economic growth has a correlation has been studied in the 16th Century. During the 16th century religion was viewed as a commercial activity and people “respond to religious costs and benefits in a predictable and observable manner” (McCleary,2008). Therefore people called for a disassociation between church and state which allows competition and creates open

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Yangon Model United Nations, 2019 | X Annual Session ​ discussion. This resulted in increased productivity and when people derive more satisfaction from consumption. Europe after the Reformation, gave birth to Reformed Protestantism, Calvinism, in Northern Europe. Calvinism encouraged good ethics, honesty, hard work and thrift. As a result they worked harder than Catholics in Southern Europe; this facilitated the rise of capitalism in Northern Europe. Calvinists would then contribute to the society by investing their surplus into the economy by building new businesses. This generated a growth of capitalism in Northern Europe. (Weber,1905)

Sunni Vs. Shia

Sunni and Shia are the two major branches of Islam. The divide between Sunni and Shia dates back to the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632. The problem between is who should be the successor, the first caliph after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Sunnis, 80% of all Muslims, believe that before Prophet Muhammad death, he has chosen Ali, his cousin and son-in-law as his successor. However the Shia believe that Prophet Muhammad did not choose a successor and that the first caliph should be chosen by the leaders of the Muslim community. The majority of the Middle Eastern countries are predominantly Sunni and only Iran, Bahrain and Iraq majority are Shia.

9/11 attacks

On September 11, 2001, 4 planes were hijacked by Al Qaeda members which crashed on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in the fields of Philadelphia taking the lives of almost 3000 people. After this, “incidents were identified where negative or discriminatory act was perpetrated against Muslims or an entity that was associated with Islam. However the proliferation, seriousness, frequency and measure of violence differed widely across the world.” (EUMC, 2001).

Key Issues

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Loss of financial investors

Religious hostilities creates a ground to drive away local and foreign investment which slows down the development of the economy. For instance in Egypt religious policies issued by its government has negatively affected the tourism industry. (Bell, 2013) Another example of how religious ties to economy is Islamic finance. “For instance, businesses involved in creating, buying, or selling Islamic financial instruments can find themselves in the situation that one Islamic law board deems a particular instrument acceptable while another board does not (Lawrence, Morton, and Khan 2013), making the instrument’s acceptance on stock exchanges subject to differing interpretations of Islamic law. Other examples include the banning of Hollywood films in some Arab countries for religious reasons (Browning 2014) and the misuse of anti-blasphemy laws to attack business rivals (Tarin and Uddin 2013). Perhaps most significant for future economic growth, the instability associated with high and rising religious restrictions and hostilities can influence young entrepreneurs to take their talents elsewhere (Younis and Younis 2011).” (Grim, Clark, Synder, 2014)

Decrease in GDP

Religious Freedom and Business Foundation conducted a study and advises that “young entrepreneurs are pushed to take their talents elsewhere due to the instability associated with high and rising religious restrictions and hostilities," According to the RFBF, the study looked at GDP growth for 173 countries in 2011 and found religious freedom correlated with lower corruption. Moreover, "when religious groups operate in a free and competitive environment, religion can play a measurable role in the human and social development of countries." The authors analyzed 2011 GDP data and compared with data on religious restrictions, the level of economic and business freedom in a given country, and

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"measures of government regulation, taxes, labor issues, demographics and economic circumstances." The result: "Religious freedom is one of only three variables that remains a significant predictor of GDP growth," the report indicated. (Kellner, 2014)

Government system

“Religious freedom has been a complicated issue in many societies ranging from death ​ sentences imposed by draconian blasphemy laws in the Middle East and Africa to more subtle restrictions through local zoning regulations, marriage and health care laws in the United States.” (Kellner,2014) Some very religious countries in Asia do not tolerate religious diversity. For instance Saudi Arabia does not allow non-Muslims to hold Saudi citizenships making the country less diverse religious ​ and conversion from Islam to another religion is considered apostasy and punishable by death.

Unemployment in the EU

“Muslims and other ethno-religious minorities are underrepresented in labour participation and overrepresented in European employment statistics. The disproportionately high unemployment of ethnic minorities, does not attributable to a lack of skills, schooling or language. Within the same ethnic group some religious minorities face an additional ‘religion penalty’ in particular in the case of Islam. For instance, Muslim Indians face significantly higher unemployment than Christian, Sikh or Hindu Indians. ” (Alidadi, 2017) In 2010, the unemployment rate in Belgium among ethnic minorities was 5 times higher than amongst the native Belgians and among the them only a quarter of the ethnic minorities receive unemployment benefits. Likewise in the Netherlands, unemployment rate amongst ethnic minorities is 3 to 5 times higher than the white population.

Major Parties Involved and Their Views

UK

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As one of the first member of the United Nations. The UK abide to Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with fully recognizes the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The UK has seen a growth of anti-semitism and islamophobia ever since War on Terror in the middle east. In 2014, hate crimes against Jews has increased by 36% compared to 2013 and another 11% compared to 2016 according to Community Security Trust (CST). Along with that the Brexit vote has inscred islamophobic incident by 326% according to an anti-Muslim hate monitoring group((Muslim Anti-Muslim Attacks) Tell MAMA).

China

“Chinese citizens' right to the freedom of religious belief is protected by the Constitution and laws. ​ ​ ​ ​ In the Constitution of the People's Republic of China freedom of religious belief is a basic right enjoyed ​ ​ ​ by all citizens.”(Information Office of the State Council Of the People's Republic of China,1997) “However ​ ​ the government restricts religious practice to government-sanctioned organizations and registered places of worship and controls the growth and scope of the activity of religious groups.”(U.S. Department of State, 2011 ) Recently the Chinese government has crackdown down on Uyghur Muslims by placing ​ them in ‘reduation camps’, monitoring Ramadan, and running campaigns to discourage Uyghurs from practicing their religion. Individual Uyghur Muslims have additionally been confined for rehearsing their religion.

India

India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, however religious intolerance targeted at Hindu nationalism. This “hurt the prospects of investing and the overall economic well being of the growing nation and contributes to hostilities between Hindus and Muslims in particular, creating an environment that is unappealing to foreign investment.” (Iyengar, 2015) Just of 2018 the “Indian government stripped 4 million people, mostly Muslims, of their citizenship branding them as illegal immigrants.” (Mandalaparthy, 2018). Ever since 2014, “there has been a significant increase in ​ ​ anti-minority rhetoric and mob violence committed by Hindu nationalist groups against Muslims and other minorities. “(Mandalaparthy, 2018). ​

Nordic Countries

“In the Nordic countries, there are few rules that specifically regulate religion in the workplace. Most norms and practices spring out of the fundamental right to freedom of religion, the prohibition against discrimination on the grounds of religion and a general obligation of the employer to take into account individual circumstances in the organization and arrangement of work.“(EY, 2018) Businesses have been urged to discover logical answers for the distinctive needs that emerge from religious assorted variety without turning to inflexible standards. Be that as it may, because of expanded migration

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Yangon Model United Nations, 2019 | X Annual Session ​ and globalization, issues identified with religion in the work environment have turned out to be progressively normal.

Timeline of Relevant Resolutions, Treaties and Events

Date Description of event

The UN adopted Universal Declaration of Human Rights which forms December 10, 1948 international customary law.

December 16, 1966 UN adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

December 7, 1987 UN resolution on “Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance”

September 16, 2001 President George W. Bush declares the war on terror.

August 5, 2014 UN adopted resolution 68/170

Evaluation of Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue

Groups like Religious and Business Foundation along with NGOs have been joining forces to teach general society about how religious opportunity is useful for business and draws in the business network in uniting with government and non-government associations in advancing admiration for opportunity of religion or conviction.

Relevant UN treaties

Resolution 16/18 - “The resolution calls upon all member states to foster religious freedom and ​ pluralism, to ensure religious minorities are properly represented, and to consider adopting measures to criminalize incitement to imminent violence based on religion or belief. (Berkley Center, 2011)

A/RES/50/183 - Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance

A/RES/44/131

A/RES/54/159

A/RES/55/254

Questions a resolution must answer

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For what reason is the issue of religious prejudice of universal concern, instead of national?

What is the role of each individual nation in deciding solutions for its results of religious intolerance?

Which nations should lead the path in guaranteeing the foundation of religious resilience?

How could the social and economic results of religious prejudice be combated, regardless of whether religious bigotry can't completely be restricted?

How can the UN react to developing religious intolerance across national borders?

Possible Solutions

In any case, despite the number of goals and resolutions proposed by the UN General Assembly, religious intolerance remains an essential issue that hasn't been properly addressed by any means. Nations should attempt and think of further arrangements, in order to diminish these activities. Nations, for instance, could attempt to incorporate religious education in schools to anticipate radicalization especially among the adolescent, and advance religious resistance. By bringing issues to light through campaigns can help individuals around the world to become acquainted with the importance about their individual religious rights, second of all to meet new religions and last to be educated about types of religious intolerance. Moreover, governments must make a move and every single vital measure, incongruity obviously with the international humanitarian law, to eliminate all types of prejudice, by reinforcing laws.

Bibliography

S.J, John. “The Problem of Religious Freedom.” Georgetown University Library, 1995, ​ ​ ​ www.library.georgetown.edu/woodstock/murray/1964e. ​

Das, Veena. “The Trouble with Religious Tolerance.” Berkley Center, Georgetown University,6July2016, ​ ​ berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/responses/the-trouble-with-religious-tolerance.

Amadeo, Kimberly. “How the 9/11 Attacks Still Damage the Economy Today.” The ​ BalanceSmallBusiness,TheBalance,6Nov.2018, ​ www.thebalance.com/how-the-9-11-attacks-still-affect-the-economy-today-3305536

Fenton, Siobhan. “The 6 Charts Which Show the Employment Barriers Faced by British Muslims.” The ​ Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 11 Aug. 2016, ​

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Yangon Model United Nations, 2019 | X Annual Session ​ www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/muslims-more-likely-to-be-unemployed-than-any-other-soci al-group-in-the-uk-mps-warn-a7185451.html. ​

Alidadi, Katayoun. “Religion and Unemployment Benefits: Comparing Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain.” European Labour Law Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, ser. 67-95, 2017. 67-95, ​ ​ ​ ​ journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2031952517699134.

Korman, Sophia. “Examining the Effect of Religion on Economic Growth: A Partial Replication and Extension.” Examining the Effect of Religion on Economic Growth: A Partial Replication and Extension, ​ ​ May 2015, digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1 088&context=honors_theses. ​

Kellner, Mark A. “Religious Freedom Means Economic Growth, Study Says.” DeseretNews.com, Deseret ​ ​ News, 3 June 2014, www.deseretnews.com/article/865604332/Religious-freedom-means-economic-growth-study-says.html. ​

Grim, Brian. “The Social and Economic Impact of Religious Intolerance.” ​ Religiousfreedomandbusiness.org, 15 Mar. 2014, ​ religiousfreedomandbusiness.org/2/post/2014/03/the-social-and-economic-impact-of-religious-intoleranc e.html.

Grim, Brian J. “The Link between Economic and Religious Freedoms.” World Economic Forum, Religious ​ ​ Freedom & Business Foundation, 18 Dec. 2014, www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/12/the-link-between-economic-and-religious-freedoms/. ​

Barro, Robert, and Rachel McCleary. “Religion and Economic Growth Across Countries.” American ​ Sociological Review, vol. 68, no. 5, Oct. 2003, pp. 760–781. ​

McCleary, Rachel. “Religion and Economic Development.” Hoover Institution, Policy Review, 28 Mar. ​ ​ 2008, www.hoover.org/research/religion-and-economic-development. ​ ​

Allen, Christopher, and Jørgen Nielsen. “Summary Report on Islamophobia .” Summary Report on ​ Islamophobia in the EU after 11 September 2001, May 2002. ​

Jong, Eelke. “Religious Values and Economic Growth.” Nov. 2008.

Grim, Brian, et al. “Is Religious Freedom Good for Business?: A Conceptual and Empirical Analysis.”

Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion, vol. 10, 2014. ​

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Mandalaparthy, Nikhil. “Rising Hindu Nationalism in South Asia: Implications for the United States.” The ​ Diplomat, The Diplomat, 22 Aug. 2018, ​ thediplomat.com/2018/08/rising-hindu-nationalism-in-south-asia-implications-for-the-united-states/.

“Global Uptick in Government Restrictions on Religion in 2016.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public ​ Life Project, Pew Research Center, 21 June 2018, ​ www.pewforum.org/2018/06/21/global-uptick-in-government-restrictions-on-religion-in-2016/. ​

Religion in the Workplace in the Nordic Countries. Religion in the Workplace in the Nordic Countries, EY, ​ ​ ​ 2018.

Berkley Center for Religion, and Georgetown University. “United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution

16/18.” Georgetown University, 21 Mar. 2011, ​ ​ berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/publications/united-nations-human-rights-council-resolution-16-18.

International Religious Freedom Report 2011 : China (Report). U.S. Department of State. July 30, 2012. ​

U.S Department of State, International Religious Freedom Report 2010: China, 17 Nov 2010. ​ ​

Information Office of the State Council Of the People's Republic of China. “Freedom of Religious Belief in

China.” National Minorities Policy and Its Practice in China, Oct. 1997, ​ ​ www.china-un.ch/eng/bjzl/t168753.htm.

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