Local Muslim organisations and parliamentarians have raised concerns around reports of “forced cremation of Muslims” in Sri Lanka.
The Muslim Council of Britain, the UK’s largest institution for Muslims in the country has agreed to take unprecedented action and issue a complaint to the United Nations. This complaint will be led by a team of expert lawyers with the aim of getting the Sri Lankan Government to reverse its cremation policy. It has been reported that around 100 Muslim bodies have been cremated, including a 20-day old baby. The consequences of the Sri Lankan Government's actions have had a devastating impact on Sri Lankan Muslim families within the UK and abroad.
The MCB had earlier set up a Task Force headed by Assistant Secretary-General, Zara Mohammed, and made up of Sri Lankan representative bodies, lawyers, medical experts, and senior community leaders. The Task Force is established in response to the ongoing forced cremations' policy by the Sri Lankan Government of Covid-19 deceased and the remit of this work includes International coordination, legal remedies, community, engagement, and medical response. The expert medical panel appointed by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health has issued its revised guidance on the current ‘compulsory cremation’ policy of Covid-19 deceased.
The MCB Secretary-General, Harun Khan said, “We welcome the expert panel’s revised guidance which allows for burials and is in line with the World Health Organisations recommendation. This is a positive step and we urge the Sri Lankan Government to reverse the policy of compulsory cremation.”
The MCB is actively supporting the rights of minority groups in Sri Lanka to bury their deceased. The policy of compulsory cremations without good reason is a violation of international law. Following the negative decision by the Supreme Court, to allow burials, the MCB recently instructed leading human rights law firm, Bindmans LLP, to bring this matter to the attention of the United Nations Human Rights Committee for resolution. A few weeks ago, the MCB had threatened legal action over Muslims (and Christians) in Sri Lanka being denied the opportunity to bury family members according to religious tradition. The SL government has mandated cremations for all victims of Covid-19.
Now the issue is being taken up by Labour MP for Manchester Gorton. Afzal Khan has written to the Sri Lankan High Commissioner urging for an end to “senseless destruction” and for the government to “avoid further abuses” following the mass protests in Jaffna where authorities destroyed a Mullivaikal memorial commemorating the deaths of tens of thousands of Tamils killed during the armed conflict. In his letter he also flagged up concerns over the denial of Muslim burial rights noting that such rights “are an integral and vital aspect of the exercise of freedoms” highlighting that despite World Health Organisation guidelines permitting burials and pleas from human rights organisations, “the Sri Lankan government has not responded”.
The letter noted, “The Muslim community has joined their Tamil brothers and sisters in protest over the government’s actions”.
