Egypt: Kidnapping of Christian girls - well-organized and well-funded

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Egypt | 17 October 2017

As reported by World Watch Monitor on 14 September 2017, an Egyptian man has revealed that he used to belong to a network engaged in kidnapping Christian girls, forcing them to marry Muslims and converting them to Islam. The report shows that such kidnappings (which include apparent love-affairs and elopements) are the result of a well-organized and well-funded operation with links to radical Islamic groups outside of Egypt. ‚ Yonas Dembele, persecution analyst at World Watch Research, comments: "This revelation confirms the worst suspicions held by many Egyptian Christians and outside observers. The situation is also exacerbated by the failure of the Egyptian authorities to investigate and take the appropriate measures against those engaged in such criminal activity. This failure of the authorities ensures the impunity of the kidnappers and their paymasters and has contributed to the increase in the incidence of Christian girls who are kidnapped and forced into marriage. This is a serious threat to the family life of Christians - and young Christian women in particular - and it shows how the persecution of Egyptian Christians is occurring on multiple fronts."