09/03/2020 Egypt (International Christian Concern) – Last month, local Egyptian officials refused to allow Christians to bury a young boy in a Christian cemetery located in Frafra Center. The boy’s remains were exhumed and reburied in Nahda village, over 60 miles away from his home. Local officials did not want a Christian to be buried near to Muslim communities.
Egyptian Member of Parliament, Nadia Henry, made a public briefing request to the Leader of the House about the situation. Nadia herself is also a Christian and stated that the Christian community had documents from four years ago which proved that they had burial rights in this location. She asked “Is this action humanitarian? These kinds of action increase the stresses, anger, and decreases social peace between the citizens.” Decent local burial grounds should be arranged if the local government does not respect the Christian cemetery.
Unfortunately, it is not unusual for Egyptian Christians to face discrimination even in death. Christians are considered second-class citizens, and cemeteries in Egypt are established based upon religion. Since Christians have limited representation in the various levels of government, if indeed any representation exists, it is hard for them to have voices who speak for their rights as citizens.
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