Not only the Copts, but also our 300,000 Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters in Egypt suffer sporadic persecution, discrimination, and harassment, and as we see so often, frequently Egyptian officials do little or nothing to alleviate their plight.
“ACLJ Urges U.N. To Rescue Abducted Christian Woman Forced To Convert to Islam,” ACLJ, July 30, 2024:
On January 22, 2024, a 21-year-old Christian woman, Irene Ibrahim Shehata, was abducted and later forced to convert to Islam in Egypt. We’re demanding an investigation from the U.N. and that Egypt find and free her. Who Is Irene Ibrahim Shehata? Irene, a second-year medical student, suddenly disappeared during midterm exams. Weeks later, she stole her captor’s phone and tearfully pleaded for her life in a desperate call to her brother. According to Coptic Solidarity, her captor ripped the phone from her hands and told her brother, “Okay, you heard her voice and know she’s okay, right? Now go to hell!” Irene’s family immediately contacted the police. But the police refused to act and threatened to arrest her family if they attempted to rescue her. A month later, Irene’s electronic record showed that her national ID had been changed to “Muslim.” This is a common tactic used by the Muslim Brotherhood to force families to give up their search for a missing Christian woman. But Irene’s family did not give up, confident that she was taken against her will. Authorities provided Irene’s family with numerous false leads, sending them on a futile search all over the country. Despite the family’s persistence, State Security officials remain hostile and uncooperative toward the family, insisting Irene voluntarily fled with a Muslim man. Persecution of Christians in Egypt Tragically, this is not an isolated incident. Christian women in Egypt are often kidnapped, “married” to Muslim men, and then forced to convert to Islam. Their national IDs are then changed to Muslim, and their stories are forgotten. State Security not only refuses to rescue these women but also seemingly assists in the targeting of Christian women….
