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Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Christians Fleeing Persecution in Egypt

From the Telegraph (h/t Weasel Zippers):
Coptic Christian churches in the United States say they are having to expand to cope with new arrivals, as priests in cities like Cairo and Alexandria talk of a new climate of fear and uncertainty.

"Most of our people are afraid," Father Mina Adel, a priest at the Church of Two Saints in Alexandria said. "Not a few are leaving - for America, Canada and Australia. Dozens of families from this church alone are trying to go too."

... But the victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliamentary and presidential elections has changed the mood - particularly as the biggest opposition party is the even more hardline Salafist movement which wants strict Sharia law implemented.

... The biggest change in attitudes has come since the passing of a new constitution giving Sharia law more prominence.

"With the new constitution, the new laws that are expected, and the majority in parliament I don't believe we can be treated on an equal basis," said a congregation leader in Cairo's Church of St Mary and St John the Baptist.

... The United States, like other countries, does not distinguish visa applications by religion, so there are no absolute figures. One estimate put the number of Coptic emigrants in 2011 at 100,000, of whom more than 40,000 went to the US.

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