There are 4.9 million Christians in Kazakhstan in the mostly Muslim population. Since 2011, religious freedom has been restricted as government surveillance and control increases. When somebody becomes a Christian, they risk being…

Some say ‘to be a Kazakh is to be a Muslim’. Most Kazakhs follow a version of Islam influenced by shamans and indigenous practices. Other Muslim countries send Muslim missionaries to Kazakhstan, successfully…

Kazakhstan’s ongoing civil unrest shows the need for meaningful progress against corruption. Last week there were countrywide protests over inequality, poverty and corruption, also calling for meaningful reforms. The wealth the country’s political…

Protests in Kazakhstan began on 2 January when the government removed a fuel price cap. The speed with which protests turned violent surprised everyone, hinting that they are not only about fuel. This…

On 16 April Bitter Winter, a magazine on religious liberty and human rights, published the following: ‘His wife’s picket at the Chinese consulate in Almaty got so much attention that the CCP decided…

The authorities in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan ordered the confiscation of the buildings of both Grace Presbyterian Church and Agape Pentecostal Church, which is building a place of worship on the same site. City…

The ancient Silk Road connected east and southeast Asia with Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, East Africa, and Southern Europe. Recently, after Central Asian pastors and leaders fasted and prayed for three days, a…

Officials are harassing founders of religious communities, possibly trying to block applications to exist. In May police began harassing Oskemen's New Life Protestant Church as it sought re-registration after changing its name. Officers…

In another invasion into Christian freedom of religion, a Kazakh regional religious affairs department has demanded the personal data of everyone under 18 who attends Christian meetings for worship. It was not sent…

All exercise of the right to freedom of religion or belief without state permission is banned in Kazakhstan, in defiance of the country's international human rights commitments. There is a growing trend of…