Christians bury their dead, too, and some in Sri Lanka have also been hurt by the move, which came despite World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which permit burials for people who die from COVID.
The UK complaint was lodged to the UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) in partnership with UK-based law firm Bindmans on behalf of the families.
Zara Mohammed, the secretary general of the MCB, described the country’s cremation policy as ‘unprecedented’.
“No other state has carried out such unjust and discriminatory measures,” she said in a statement issued on Monday. “We very much hope that the Sri Lankan Government will change its policy in line with the World Health Organisation advice.”
Tayab Ali, a partner at Bindmans who represents the MCB and the families, described the practice as ‘heartless’.
“Our clients were already suffering from the distress of losing a family member to COVID,” he said in a statement. “It is truly heartless for the Sri Lankan Government to add to that distress by unnecessarily forcing the bodies of loved ones to be cremated.” Ali also called for the UNHRC to “take immediate action on receipt of this complaint by granting interim measures to halt these cremations”.
(FT)