Kazakhstan to introduce annual re-registration for foreign religious missionaries

The new draft legislation on religion seeks to oblige religious missionaries working in Kazakhstan to renew state registration annually, Lama Sharif, Head of the Agency for Religions, announced at the plenary sitting of the Majilis (lower chamber) September 21. “Foreign missionaries have to renew their state registration with regional branches of the Agency for Religion”, Lama Sharif said. He elaborated that registration can be denied on the grounds of the opinion letter of the religion expert committee in case the committee sees any threat to the public order, human rights, health or morals of people. According to him, as of today there are over 300 foreign missionaries registered in Kazakhstan. They mostly come from Poland, South Korea, the USA, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Switzerland and Spain.