A/HRC/22/51/Add.1 B. Recommendations to the Government of the Republic of Cyprus 74. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus should further develop its existing policy of appreciating religious and belief diversity with a view to including small communities as well as communities which do not have a long historical presence in Cyprus. In order to guarantee everyone’s full and non-discriminatory enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief, members of those religious communities that fall outside the ambit of those religions which have been historically present in the island should also benefit from existing subsidies, including financial support for denominational schools, presence in public media and coverage in school curriculum and teaching materials. 75. Any existing undue obstacles, in particular for small and non-traditional religious or belief communities, to establishing religious buildings, places of worship or cemeteries and purchasing real estate for such purposes should be analysed and removed. 76. The Government should better support the Muslim communities in the southern part, in particular by offering religious education for Muslim students on the basis of voluntary participation, and further subsidizing the infrastructure needed for upholding religious community life. This includes functioning cemeteries for holding dignified burials. 77. The Government should respect pilgrimages, including visits to the Hala Sultan Tekke, as an inextricable part of freedom of religion or belief, whose rank as a universal human right should not be supplanted by citizenship issues. 78. The Government should ensure that during school education no student is exposed to religious instruction that goes against her or his conviction (or the convictions of parents and, where applicable, legal guardians). The right to an exemption from religious instruction should be guaranteed, not only de jure but also in practice. 79. It should also be ensured that students are not exposed to pressure to participate in religious rituals, including confessions to a priest, in the context of their school education. School education should include objective information on the diversity of religions and beliefs, thus promoting multi-perspectivity, as currently envisaged in programmes designed by the Ministry of Education and Culture. 80. The Government should ensure that asylum seekers are not deported to a country in which they may face serious risk of religious persecution, in full compliance with the principle of non-refoulement and applicable international standards. C. Recommendations to the de facto authorities in the northern part of the island 81. The de facto authorities should instruct the “police” in the northern part to refrain from any behaviour which could have an intimidating effect on religious communities’ activities, for instance filming or videotaping assemblies of believers, in particular members of Christian or other minorities. 82. The de facto authorities should revise existing restrictions in the northern part on the accessibility of religious buildings, sites or cemeteries and the holding of religious services in strict compliance with article 18 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 1 (3) of the 1981 Declaration. 19