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Egypt

  • Christian Girls Tricked into Converting

    Leaders of the Coptic Church in Egypt are expressing serious concerns over recent tactics exercised by militant Muslim shop owners to trick Coptic girls into signing official conversion documents.

    Reports from the American Coptic Association claim that when Coptic girls go to some of these stores, they are told that they have won a contest. In order to receive their prize, they need to go upstairs and sign a document confirming the receipt. Often they do not read carefully enough to realize that they are actually signing an official confirmation that they have converted to Islam. Those young women who resist have been accused of theft and strip-searched. There have also been several reports of rape and despite efforts by family members, the girls are not returned to their families.

    Pope Shenouda IIIPolice have done little in response. The leader of the Coptic Church, Pope Shenouda III, has called on the authorities to "take a decisive position" on the situation. The American Coptic Association is presently gathering the names of the stores involved in this practice of exploiting young women in order to better publicize this atrocity.

    Pray that Egyptian authorities will take action against these forced "conversions" to Islam. Pray for wisdom, strength and trust in God for the young women tricked into signing these papers.

    For more information on challenges facing the Church in Egypt,click here.
  • Christian Killed in Raid on Center for Handicapped

    Patmos attack
     Photo:  U.S. Copts Association.  Used by Permission

    One Christian was killed and as many as eight others injured in the latest attack on the Patmos Center located east of Cairo, Egypt.

    According to a report received January 6 from the U.S. Copts Association, the raid took place on the morning on January 5, when six hundred soldiers crying, "God is Great!" converged on the center, along with two bulldozers. The soldiers partially destroyed the perimeter fence and set fire to some of the buildings. During this recent attack, Bishop Botros, who heads the center, attempted to intervene. As he did so, the driver of a bus was reported to deliberately swerve toward the bishop. Some of the staff members who rushed to protect him were struck by the vehicle. One of them, Kirilos Daoud, was killed. Army officials deny any responsibility, saying that the driver lost control of the bus.

    The Patmos Center serves to educate and assist mentally disabled children and orphans. It has been attacked numerous times in the past six years. The latest attacks are supposedly because of a law passed in January 2003, requiring all walls to be more than one hundred metres back from the Cairo-Suez road. Workers at the center have noted that the wall around the army barracks is only fifty metres from the road and several mosques along the road are closer than one hundred metres.

    Pray for the family of Kirilos Daoud, as well as for those injured. Pray that this issue at the Patmos Center will be finally and completely resolved, so that they can continue the work of reaching out in the name of Christ to those in need in the Cairo area.

    For more information on persecution in Egypt, click here.

     Click on images below for a larger view from the U.S. Copts Association

      
      
      
      
      
  • Christian Symbols Bring Police Harassment

    For the past year, a controversy of sorts has arisen in Egypt over bumper stickers. It started when Christians began displaying stickers on their cars with a fish logo; an ancient symbol of Christianity. These are often used in the West to show that the car owner is a Christian. As these gained popularity among the Coptic minority in Egypt, Muslims began producing and displaying stickers with a shark chasing a fish, sometimes with the phrase "No god but Allah." Some Egyptian human rights activists expressed concerns in mid-November that this war of the bumper stickers could ignite tensions between Muslims and Christians, particularly within the more militant elements of society.

     Driver
    Egyptian drivers face harrassment
    for displaying religious symbols

     According to a December 18 report from The U.S. Copts Association, Cairo police began stopping vehicles displaying the fish symbol in mid-December, demanding that the stickers be removed and handing out heavy fines. One driver reported receiving a fine of 500 Egyptian pounds (over $100.00 Cdn), along with the temporary suspension of his license. Police state that they are acting upon orders from the Minister of the Interior. There are no reports of Muslims being similarly stopped.

    Michael Meunier, President of the U.S. Copts Association, points out the inconsistency, of this new policy, since Muslims have freely displayed religious slogans on their cars for years. "This is an outright discrepancy, and an unacceptable violation of the individuals' freedom of expression."

    Pray that what began as a simple expression of religious faith will not escalate into religious intolerance.

    For more information on the persecution facing Christians in Egypt, click here.
  • Last Arrested Convert Released on Bail

    On October 29, the Persecution and Prayer Alert reported that more than twenty converts from Islam to Christianity had been arrested on charges related to false documents (for more information, see https://www.vomcanada.com/eg-2003-10-29b.htm). On December 3, the last of the imprisoned converts, Former Muslim Mariam Girguis Makar, 30, was granted bail by an Egyptian court and ordered released from El-Kanater Women's Prison. She was finally released on December 9, and has been reunited with her family.

    Makar and her fellow suspects were held under charges of falsifying documents identifying converts from Islam as Christians. It is very difficult (if not impossible) for a Muslim to change their official religious designation in Egypt, while converts to Islam can do so with relative ease.

    Though she has been released on bail, court authorities say that the charges against her have not been dropped. Makar is married with two young daughters. She, along with her husband, converted to Christianity while living in Cairo and moved to Alexandria in 1999. She was reportedly tortured during her incarceration.

    Pray for this family, that they will be able to remain together. Pray that all charges will be dropped. Pray also that there will be freedom in Egypt to change religious affiliation.
  • Husband Captured While Fleeing for Canada

    A Christian pharmacist, Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad, was apprehended for the second time on November 25 while trying to flee Egypt for Canada. He is trying to join his wife, a convert from Islam, who has recently managed to leave Egypt. The Egyptian border police detained him at the Libyan border for 12 hours then released him, but he was told that he has been blacklisted and will never be allowed to leave the country. According to a December 5 report by Compass Direct, one policeman vowed, "I'll bring her [your wife] back and cut her into pieces in front of you." There has even been a threat to have him charged with her murder to force her back to the country as evidence of his innocence.

    He was previously stopped from leaving Egypt in September but was stopped at the airport as he prepared to leave for Canada (click herefor details). Having faced torture, intense interrogations, false drug charges and ongoing pressure to reveal the whereabouts of his wife, he is struggling with depression and has lost 20 kg over the last nine months. His Canadian immigration visa expires in early April 2004.

    Pray that he will be allowed to leave Egypt and join his wife. Pray that he will be able to overcome the depression and regain his health. Pray for both Rezek-Allah and his wife, Enas, as they face months apart and uncertainty about their future

    We also urge you to write, telephone, or email to your federal government officials and to Egyptian embassies on behalf of Boulos Farid Rezek-Allah Awad (links may be found at https://www.vomcanada.com/links.htm). In Canada, you can write to:

    Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
    H.E. Dr. Sallama Mahmoud Shaker, Ambassador
    454 Laurier Ave. E.
    Ottawa, ON K1N 6R3
    Phone: 613-234-4931/234-4935
    FAX: 613-234-9347/234-4398
    E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Police Protecting Muslim Kidnappers of Christian Girl

    The parents of an Egyptian Christian teenager, kidnapped a month ago by Muslims who claim she has converted to Islam, are being refused access to their daughter. Ingy Nagy Edwar disappeared on September 27, the day after she celebrated her nineteenth birthday at her home in El-Maryouteya El-Haram. The last time her father saw her was when he sent her on a bus to visit an aunt in Cairo's Heliopolis district. She never arrived.

    According to an October 27 report from Compass Direct, her brother Nagy went to the police station on September 28 to report the disappearance where he was treated very rudely. Ingy's father then went to the police station where he was held overnight, accused of trying to interfere with his daughter's conversion to Islam. He was shown a declaration of conversion and a written complaint from his daughter, rejecting any interference in her conversion. She is staying in the home of former neighbours, Abdel Gaber Abdel Moteleb Mohammed Kandyl and his wife. According to the U.S. Copts Association, police are guarding the apartment to prevent unauthorized contact with the family.

    On September 29, the Giza State Security Directorate held a hearing into the girl's case, producing Ingy dressed in an Islamic veil. According to the family, her moods were extremely unusual. "She was not in a normal mood," Nagy stated. "When we started crying, she was laughing hysterically." Based on that, and other phone conversations with her since, the family believes that she has been put on mood-altering drugs. During a second hearing, two Coptic priests were present, as required by law, to ask her about her alleged conversion to Islam. However, she did not come, saying that she was very sick. The family is concerned about her psychological stability since her mother's death two years ago. She has told her brother by phone that she wants to commit suicide.

    Under Egyptian law, a daughter under the age of twenty-one cannot convert from one religion to another without her father's consent and there is no legal reason for keeping her from contact with her family, based on the alleged conversion. A third hearing has been set for November 1, where her father will be pressing for Ingy to be returned to his custody.

    Pray for emotional and psychological strength for Ingy, as well for her family. Pray that the courts will uphold the law and return Ingy to her family. Pray for other families facing similar threats and for young girls, frequently led astray by Muslim men for the purpose of converting them to Islam.

     Minia, Egypt
    El Minia University

    Abductions of young Christian women, followed by forced conversions to Islam, are not uncommon in Egypt. The U.S. Copts Association reported this week on the case of Heba Samir Wahba, 19, who was last seen on the campus of El Minia University on October 20. When the family reported her disappearance to the police, they were told of her conversion to Islam and were warned to not attempt to intervene. After beginning a hunger strike, the State Security officials had agreed to arrange a meeting between the family and their daughter, in the presence of officials and her new guardians.
     

    However, Christine Tadros of the U.S. Copts Association told The Voice of the Martyrs this morning that the meeting did not happen. There have been several similar reports from El Minia University and other college campuses where young Coptic women are befriended by Muslim male students, drawn into a life of drug addiction, and finally abduction and conversion to Islam.
  • Muslim Converts Arrested and Tortured

    According to reports, since October 20, twenty-two converts from Islam to Christianity arrested in northern Egypt with unconfirmed reports of several more. According to the U.S. Copts Association, Egyptian authorities have been searching for eighty others.

    On October 20, Yousef Samuel Makari Suliman and his wife Mariam Girgis Makar were arrested by the Alexandria police. According to lawyers who have seen them, they have both been subjected to physical abuse, but particularly Mariam, who has suffered sexual abuse. They have been charged with "falsifying ID papers," because they obtained new ID cards with their Christian names. Following their arrest, police arrested the individuals who helped them obtain new ID cards. Through torture, authorities obtained the names of others who had received such cards and immediately arrested twenty others in Alexandria. The Voice of the Martyrs spoke with Christine Tadros of the U.S. Copts Association this morning, who reported that one of the administrative officials who assisted in obtaining the false ID cards died in prison on October 28 due to a pre-existing illness. Authorities have taunted Mariam, threatening a similar fate if she does not cooperate with them. There are concerns that at least eighty others will be arrested in the coming days. The U.S. Copts Association is waiting for confirmation on several additional arrests reported in recent days.

    Changing one's name and religion on identity papers is impossible for Muslims converting to Christianity in Egypt. For Christians converting to Islam, however, it is relatively simple. According to Tadros, there are various reasons why it would be important for those who become Christians to want to change this information. For example, if a woman's papers state that she is a Muslim, she would not be permitted to marry a Christian. Also the children of those who are legally classified as Muslims are required, by law, to be educated as Muslims. It can also be dangerous for a person with an Islamic name to enter a church, since police guard most churches. Consequently, many converts to Christianity obtain their official papers under an assumed Christian name not recognized by the state, risking charges of falsifying official documents. While it is officially legal for to convert from one religion to another, issues such as ID cards have been used as a way of punishing those who convert from Islam.

    Michael Meunier, president of the U.S. Copts Association, said, "It is ironic that while the Egyptian constitution guarantees the individuals' freedom to change his or her religion, the Egyptian government repeatedly violates the constitution by harassing, torturing, raping, and holding converts indefinitely to pressure them to leave their new faith. In addition the government does not legally recognize conversion from Islam to Christianity and, as a result, converts lose all their rights, inheritance and all positions."

    Pray for those being tortured in prison, and for those being sought by police. Pray for their safety and spiritual endurance in the face of such opposition. We encourage you to contact the Egyptian authorities to politely express your concern for the welfare of these Christians and the policies, which led to this situation. Urge them to pass legislation making it easier for minorities to change one's name and religion on ID cards and insist that police not harass those who desire to do so. For contact information for the Egyptian embassy in your country, follow the links from our website at https://www.vomcanada.com/links.htm.
  • Attack Leaves Christians Injured; Buildings Destroyed

    Reports from Egypt indicate that, on November 7 around 8:00 p.m., a Muslim mob attacked a number of Coptic Christians in the town of Gerza south of Cairo. They destroyed homes, crops and businesses and injured several people. At least five were hospitalized. It appears that Islamic militants were angry about plans for a church building in the town.

    It was several hours before authorities arrived to intervene. According to one report, those who were taken to hospital were unable to receive treatment until the next day while others who were injured did not go for treatment for fear of leaving their children and homes unprotected.

     Gerza, Egypt

    Violence and discrimination against Christians by Muslims in Egypt are common. They regularly face threats, loss of jobs, and even kidnapping and murder. Pray for healing for those injured in this attack, as well as an emotional healing in the community. Pray that the Egyptian authorities will take violence against Christians more seriously and punish the offenders appropriately.
  • Detained Emigrant Faces Drug Charges

    In last week's Persecution and Prayer Alert, we asked prayer for Bolis Rezekallah, an Egyptian Christian detained at the Cairo airport just as he was leaving to immigrate to Canada. He was arrested when authorities learned that he was married to a convert from Islam. His wife immediately went into hiding when it was learned that Bolis had been arrested.

    A VOM contact informed us today that Bolis had been released on bail. However, the police then accused him of being a drug dealer. According to the report, the police officer placing the charges told Bolis, "I forced you to sell your pharmacy, I forced you to sell your car, this time I will force you to commit suicide if you do not tell us where your wife is."

    Pray for safety for Bolis and his wife. Pray for continued endurance and strength in these trials. Pray that these false drug charges will be thrown out and that both will be allowed to immigrate to Canada.

    We also urge you to write, telephone, or email to your federal government officials and to Egyptian embassies on behalf of Bolis Rezekallah (links may be found at https://www.vomcanada.com/links.htm). In Canada, you can write to:

    Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
    H.E. Dr. Sallama Mahmoud Shaker, Ambassador
    454 Laurier Ave. E.
    Ottawa, ON K1N 6R3

    Phone: 613-234-4931/234-4935
    FAX: 613-234-9347/234-4398
    E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Husband Arrested at Cairo Airport; Intervention Urged

    The Voice of the Martyrs has just learned that Bolis Rezekallah, an Egyptian Christian preparing to immigrate to Canada was detained at the airport a few hours ago when it was learned that he was married to a Muslim convert named Enas Badawi. A civil ceremony would never have been possible, since Christian men may not marry Muslim women according to Islamic law and to convert to Christianity is a potential capital offense. Therefore, the couple decided to forego a civil marriage and be married only in the church (in Egypt, as in many countries, Christian couples often undergo both a church and civil ceremony). Learning that his wife, who was not traveling with him but who also has a Canadian immigrant visa, was legally still a Muslim, Bolis was arrested and VOM contacts fear that he is being tortured as authorities try to learn the whereabouts of Enas and the details behind her conversion and subsequent marriage.

    We urge your fervent prayer on behalf of this couple. We also urge you to write, telephone, or email to your government officials and to Egyptian embassies on behalf of Bolis Rezekallah (links may be found at https://www.vomcanada.com/links.htm). In Canada, you can write to:

    Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt
    H.E. Dr. Sallama Mahmoud Shaker, Ambassador
    454 Laurier Ave. E.
    Ottawa, ON K1N 6R3

    Phone: 613-234-4931/234-4935
    FAX: 613-234-9347/234-4398
    E-Mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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