By Gina Goh
Believers gather together in a makeshift church in Indonesia’s Aceh province, after their church building was burned to the ground by local radicals
02/24/2021 Indonesia (International Christian Concern) – For decades, the churches in Muslim-majority Indonesia have faced challenges in obtaining a building permit (IMB), thanks to a decree issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Religious Affairs in 2006.
The decree, which has been unfairly used to prevent the construction of churches and other religious minority premises, regulates that religious leaders should provide the signatures of 90 followers as well as signed support from at least 60 local residents. The building of a new church or other places of worship also needs approval from the village heads.