AFRICA/EGYPT - Christians and Muslims from Minya recommend removing religious affiliation from identity documents

Minya (Agenzia Fides) – In order to combat discrimination and sectarianism that tears apart the Egyptian social fabric, it is advisable to remove information about one's own religious affiliation from identity documents. This is the proposal relaunched by a group of Christians and Muslims gathered in the Egyptian city of Minya with the intention of formulating useful proposals to support peaceful civil coexistence and defuse fanaticism and extremism fueled by propaganda that exploit religious contents and languages. The meeting was also attended by some Coptic priests of Minya, together with representatives of the local Islamic communities.
In Egypt, the controversy over religious affiliation to be indicated in identity documents was raised already in the 1990s. So far, mainly groups of atheists, agnostics and other Egyptians who do not want to identify as Muslims, Christians or Jews have called for a deletion. In some cases, such as those of the Baháʼí doctrine, the refusal to indicate their religious affiliation in personal identity documents has effectively made it impossible to exercise their civil rights and access to government services. In August 2009, the situation was formally resolved from a legal point of view by granting the option of making a line when specifying religious affiliation. (GV) Agenzia Fides, 19/11/2020)

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middle east

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islam

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sectaniarism

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laws

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