An independent watchdog group has urged the United States government to redesignate Pakistan a “country of particular concern” because of unabated religious persecution.
In its 2026 annual report, released March 4, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) enumerated systemic religious freedom violations occurring in Pakistan, according to Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. Among those are blasphemy laws, mob violence against religious minorities and coerced conversion of minority girls — particularly Christians — to Islam and forced marriage to Muslim men.
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USCIRF recommended the U.S. pressure Pakistan to release individuals imprisoned for blasphemy and to prosecute perpetrators of vigilante violence and forced conversion, Christian Daily-Morning Star said.
The report further encouraged the U.S. to sanction Pakistani officials and entities that violate religious freedom and to stop exempting Pakistan, Christian Daily-Morning Star reported.
The news outlet said the U.S. last designated Pakistan a country of particular concern in late 2023. Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Nicaragua, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan also were included on the 2023 list.
World Watch
Pakistan is No. 8 on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of the 50 places most difficult to be a Christian.
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