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Egypt

Volume 453: debated on Thursday 23 November 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the treatment by the Egyptian authorities of Muslims who convert to Christianity. (102505)

Egypt is an Islamic country and religious conversion is a sensitive issue. The Egyptian Government does not interfere with the practice of other religions, but encouraging conversion is illegal. We are aware that some of those who convert to Christianity face difficulties and when we are made aware of these cases we raise our concerns with the Egyptian authorities.

The UK is committed to promoting tolerance and mutual respect between religions. We are aware that there are isolated incidents of violence against the Coptic Christian community in Egypt and where appropriate, along with EU partners and others, we raise our concerns about these incidents with the Egyptian authorities. We also discuss these incidents with the Coptic Church in Egypt.