THE AUSTRALIAN: EGYPT'S Coptic Christians are understandably terrified. And as a reality check for those who naively ignored all the warnings about Islamic extremism and insisted enlightenment and tolerance would follow the Mubarak dictatorship's downfall last February, their fate could hardly be more telling.
Sadly, the question that inevitably arises is whether, as a community, the Copts will survive the overblown hype of the Arab Spring. A new report from the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organisations show that nearly 100,000 Christians have fled in the past six months - 14,000 of them to Australia. Copts are not emigrating voluntarily, according to the human rights group. They are coerced by threats and intimidation of hardline Salafists and a lack of protection from the Egyptian regime. An estimated 250,000 members of the Coptic community, which comprise 10 per cent of Egypt's 80 million people, will have fled by year's end. And who, given the way the ruling military junta has shamefully kow-towed to the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-extremist Salafists and failed to protect the Copts, can blame them for fleeing? » | The Australian | Monday, October 17, 2011
