A sign of hope: Copts and Muslims agree after years of dispute

The Society for Threatened Peoples sees a "sign of hope" and a "significant step towards the assurance of religious freedom in Egypt" in the fact that a new agreement on regulations for the construction of new churches was met in Egypt. The past two days, representatives of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Great Sheikh of the Al Azhar Mosque had discussed the establishment of new religious places for all religions. "A dispute between Copts and Muslims that has lasted for years has now come to an end. This offers the chance to finally stop the discrimination of Christians that has been going on for decades," said the STP's Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius, in Göttingen on Thursday. 

For years, the dispute over the construction of new churches had led to conflicts between Copts and Muslims. Most recently, the dispute over the reconstruction of a Coptic Church in an Upper Egyptian village in the province Mirinab Aswan had triggered massive protests by the Copts on October 9, 2011. The protest were violently stopped by the Egyptian army, killing 27 Copts.

Coptic Christians had demanded regulations for the construction of religious sites for years. They complained that Muslims are allowed to build mosques freely, while it is almost impossible to get a permission to even renovate old churches. There is a lack of places for Christian worship everywhere in Egypt. Believers are often injured, when makeshift churches collapse. So far, the construction and renovation of old churches was regulated by the "Hamayouni Decree" from 1856, by which a permit by the Interior Ministry had to be obtained even for repairs.

The Egyptian Military Council had presented a draft law for the construction of religious sites in June 2011, but this was rejected by the Christian churches because of the many restrictions. During negotiations with leading Muslims, the Christian churches managed to arrange, that no minimum sizes for Churches need to be met any more and that all facilities that are used for the exercise of religion must now be recognized as religious sites. Also, the procedures for the construction of new churches have been clearly simplified. The province governors must now decide on applications to build new churches within 60 days and justify any rejected applications in written form. The Copts also managed to arrange that infringements of the new laws are to only to be punished by a fine instead of imprisonment.

"Time will tell if the governors are willing to approve of the construction of new churches even against the resistance of the radical Muslims," Delius said. "In any case, this legal process is a major step forward."