Overview:

• Islam is the state religion.

• There are no formal procedures for any non-Islamic group to gain recognition with the government and government offices do not provide support in this endeavour.

• There exists a mandatory registration for groups wishing to build a place of worship; this registration takes place with the municipal office in which the place of worship is proposed to be located; broad politicisation of this process takes place as the municipal office is obligated to converse with the MAIA before many approval decisions; a vague, multi-step process then continues with requirements of approval from several different government ministries and signatures of neighbours to the proposed place of worship make the process highly censorious; considering a decision that denies a place of worship to be built cannot be appealed, the process is hardly practicable.

• Although several Christian churches have been registered for places of worship, these forms of registration are not comparable to that of Islam or the Muslim community in the country despite claims of equal treatment.

• The imposition of Islamic practices on non-Muslims is demonstrative of the government’s disregard for religious freedom.

Positive elements:

• Nil.

Recommendations:

• Complete dismantlement of the present system that inhibits the vast majority of religious activities; this process must take place first before Kuwait can be reclassified as restrictive.