Overview:

• Recognition and registration are amalgamated rather than ideally differentiated; a focus is placed on legal registration instead of existential recognition.

• A very high registration fee for foreign religious groups in comparison to the majority of other countries around the world.

• There exists unequal treatment of indigenous and foreign groups as the former are not obligated to register while the latter are; this unequal treatment emerges once more in the relatively high fee that is imposed onto foreign groups while indigenous groups have a much lower fee.

• The involvement of a multitude of governmental ministries in the registration process creates unnecessary hurdles that violate the Durham principles; this overt government involvement also demonstrates politicisation of the registration process.

• The rule of mandatory registration violates the Bielefeldt provision.

Positive elements:

• Horizontal recognition is in effect.

Recommendations:

• Establish distinct procedures for existential recognition and legal registration and at multiple levels of activity.

• Reduce financial requirements for registration to more appropriate prices relative to other countries.

• To become dynamic, the government would need to establish a recognition agency to manage the religious recognition system and then relinquish its control over the agency in order to ensure its independence from government involvement.