The government of Sri Lanka has created a religious police unit to settle disputes arising from increasing intolerance against minorities by Buddhist groups. However, many Christians and Muslims in Sri Lanka think the new unit is disingenuous as it answers only to the Ministry of Buddha Sasana and Religious Affairs, which is tasked with furthering Buddhism. Members of Sri Lanka's Christian clergy said the government's decision to help solve religious disputes was misleading since many Buddhist nationalists are already under the protection of the Sri Lanka government. Last year Sri Lanka's Christian communities were targeted by vigilante groups acting on behalf of the country's Buddhist Sinhalese majority. These groups have destroyed, or closed down numerous churches, notably Evangelical congregations whose preaching is perceived as a threat to Sri Lanka's Buddhist majority. ‘The special unit will not solve the crisis we are experiencing,’ Rev. Emmanuel Sebamalai, a Tamil Catholic priest and human rights activist said.