Mike Pompeo: Uzbekistan is no longer a “Country of Particular Concern”

On June 21, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo released the State Department’s 2018 Report on International Religious Freedom.

According to him, Uzbekistan is no longer designated by the U.S. as a “Country of Particular Concern” for the first time since 2006.

“This past year, the government of Uzbekistan passed a religious freedom “road map”. Fifteen hundred religious prisoners have been freed, and 16,000 people that were blacklisted for their religious affiliations are now allowed to travel,” Secretary of State Pompeo told reporters.

In the meantime, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback said that the United States cannot secure religious freedom alone. “We need everyone’s help; everyone has a stake in the fight,” Brownback said.