A/HRC/22/51/Add.1 intentional actions of arson and destruction of public and private property and had given clear directions to the police to fully investigate the incident and find the perpetrators. 3. Other religious minorities 58. Religious communities outside of the ambit of bi-communalism – such as Anglicans, Bahá’ís, Buddhists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Protestants of different denominations and others – generally receive little attention, although their members together account for tens of thousands of people living in Cyprus. In general, however, they are able to practise their religion without many restrictions. 59. Nevertheless, the Special Rapporteur received credible information about problems concerning the construction of places of worship for which licences in some cases had been pending for many years. One group particularly affected by this problem is the Buddhist community, which has yet to secure a suitable place to build its temple in the southern part. In addition, acquiring land for new cemeteries or using the municipal burying grounds has proved to be difficult for some religious minorities, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Buddhists. Even though local authorities are obliged to provide space for burial purposes for all the deceased without prejudice to religion, Buddhists in some cases had to “export the dead” to their countries of origin. Religious personnel from abroad also face challenges relating to cumbersome procedures for renewing their short-term visas for Cyprus. 60. The Special Rapporteur would like to emphasize that freedom of religion or belief implies the right to develop a religious infrastructure, including through purchasing real estate needed to build places of worship, schools, training institutions or cemeteries. Moreover, freedom of religion or belief has a broad scope of application and includes traditional and non-traditional, large and small communities. Having the status of a universal human right, freedom of religion or belief should be implemented in a nondiscriminatory manner. 61. The Special Rapporteur received reports about cases in the southern part where people seeking asylum on religious grounds – including Bahá’ís from the Islamic Republic of Iran – were deported to their countries of origin despite a serious risk of religious persecution. Shortly after the conclusion of his mission, the Special Rapporteur also sent an urgent appeal to the Government of the Republic of Cyprus concerning the alleged imminent deportation to the Islamic Republic of Iran of a Muslim woman who had converted to the Bahá’í faith in Cyprus.15 In this context, he would like to reiterate that extraditions or deportations which can expectedly result in violations of freedom of religion or belief may themselves amount to a violation of this human right. In addition, they may violate the principle of non-refoulement enshrined in article 33 of the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and in article 3 of the Convention against Torture. The Special Rapporteur also received allegations that meetings of Bahá’ís in the northern part were frequently attended by “police” officers and at times filmed. 15 See A/HRC/21/49, p. 39 (urgent appeal of 11 May 2012). The Government of the Republic of Cyprus replied that the Head of the Asylum Service and the Reviewing Authority for Refugees held that the asylum seeker had not succeeded in proving that she had a real fear of being persecuted in Iran, as she had addressed the Iranian Embassy in Cyprus even after applying for international protection, e.g. in order to file for divorce (A/HRC/21/49, p. 39, reply of 30 May 2012). However, the Special Rapporteur would like to stress that such contacts with the Embassy in Cyprus do not necessarily mean that the asylum seeker’s life or freedom would not be threatened on account of her religion if she was ultimately returned to her country of origin. The critical assessment is whether the claimant has a well-founded fear of persecution at the time of the examination of the claim and what the consequences of return to the country of origin would be (see A/62/280, para. 63). 15