WCA Letter to the EU Foreign Affairs Council
REQUEST FOR AN EU POLICY & SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR FOR VULNERABLE MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
To the Distinguished Foreign Ministers of the EU
Stockholm, 20 August 2013
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Christians throughout the Middle East are at a critical impasse. What we are seeing in Egypt has also been reflected in other states in the region. The Aramean (Syriac) Christians of Syria, Turkey and Iraq are theologically closely linked to the Copts and have endured the same fate for centuries.
As a United Nations NGO, the World Council of Arameans (Syriacs) (“WCA”) proposes workable solutions to the current situation in Egypt and throughout the region. Indigenous Christians such as the Copts and the Arameans are rapidly dwindling in their ancestral lands. Hence we ask you to act immediately to put a halt to this shocking situation.
1. Exodus of Christians from the Middle East
The overthrown Muslim Brotherhood Government has incited great hatred against the Copts in Egypt. As you are aware, on August 15 Coptic numerous religious, educational and cultural centres were set ablaze on what Muslim Brotherhood supporters called a “Day of Rage.” Furious attacks on Coptic properties, businesses, homes and citizens have become commonplace. As a result, more and more indigenous Christians are left no choice but to flee from their homeland.
Unfortunately, the horror in Egypt is one that we have experienced all too often in the past centuries throughout the Middle East. The Aramean Christians have recently experienced this same phenomenon in Turkey and Iraq, and we are facing the same fate in Syria.
Such events which have resulted in the exclusion, marginalization and mass exodus of the native Christians teach us that what is happening in each of these countries are not isolated incidents. The reality of the current situation is truly deplorable and staggering. We must acknowledge that Christians and other minority groups are being uprooted from their homelands by intolerant Islamist forces. Throughout the Middle East they continue their efforts to enforce shariah law above democratic laws and try to erase any memory of the ancient habitats and history of the Copts, Arameans, Greeks, Armenians, Jews and other vulnerable minorities in the Middle East.
In the past decades, we have seen little to no rejection or opposition to such events from Governments in the Middle East. Even in the West, the media and politicians have largely responded with deafening silence and indifference to the ongoing human rights violations against the native populations. Many governments and media organisations are fearful of criticising the Islamist groups, but all to the detriment of the Christians and other minorities.
2. Request for an EU policy to protect minorities in the Middle East
The true impact of recent global policies on Christians in the Middle East has already been felt. In Iraq, for instance, the once thriving population of indigenous Aramean Christians went from 1.4 million to less than 400,000. Many such Christians fled into Syria, whereas many others sought refuge in Europe. We have seen the same in Syria where a population of more than 2 million Christians are rapidly disappearing. In due course, the 10% of Coptic Christians in Egypt will sadly face the same fate and leave Egypt for other (typically Western) countries.
With all the silence and fear around us, we ask all the Christians and other endangered minorities to join forces, more than ever, and request that the EU will draft a specific policy regarding the declining and endangered Christians of the Middle East, which guarantees and assesses:
A. the official recognition and appreciation of the irrefutable indigenous status of non-Muslim populations by the EU, since the Governments in the Middle East still refuse to do so;
B. the protection of these vulnerable groups and their endangered cultural heritage from the widely spread stereotypes, discrimination, marginalisation and persecutions;
C. a secure future of these indigenous populations in their traditional habitats;
D. create a budget or fund for these decimated and marginalised populations to maintain their own civil society organisations; invest in their socio-economical situation; prevent ongoing migration flows and promote the return of those who already escaped their homeland.
Such a policy is completely supported by the conventions, values and founding principles of the EU. It can be placed under the supervision of a Special Envoy or Rapporteur who will closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and who will publish (semi-)annual progress reports.
Based on these reports, the EU, with the assistance of the WCA and other representative organizations of indigenous populations in the Middle East, can adopt resolutions which should incentivise the countries to achieve peace and promote equal rights among all its citizens, irrespective of their ethno-religious backgrounds. The EU would thereby assist the Middle East in democratizing the region and aligning it with Western values and ideals.
We request the Ministers of Foreign Affairs to take this proposal into consideration and discuss it during their earliest meetings on Egypt, Syria, Turkey or another country in the Middle East.
Yours sincerely,
Johny Messo
President
World Council of Arameans (Syriacs)
Photo: Reuters