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| Africa North | ||
| Egypt govt rehouses 118 Coptic families who fled North Sinai militants | ||
| 2017-02-27 | ||
The state announced on Sunday it had housed 118 Coptic families fleeing from North Sinai to four governorates, according to the latest report presented by a Cabinet operation room. Minister Omar Marawan said that 96 of the families were given shelter in the neighbouring Ismailia governorate, eight families in Qalioubia, 12 in Assiut, and two in Cairo. "The social solidarity ministry will bear the cost of education, accommodation and healthcare for the displaced families, as well as allocating EGP 1000 each in urgent financial aid," he added. In the past few days, churches in Ismailia have received dozens of Coptic families who have fled Arish, in the light of a number of killings of Christians linked to holy warriors in the governorate. On Saturday, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered the government to take all necessary measures to provide assistance to Christians who have fled Sinai. In a cabinet meeting, the president stressed the importance of countering attempts to "undermine security and stability in Egypt," saying the displaced families, had been "received and housed until terrorist elements are dealt with."
"I don’t want to stay there and die as a casualty in the war that has hit el-Arish," said Reda, a civil servant who arrived two days earlier with six family members including grandchildren. "If they allow us we will stay here until the terrorism is over and the government makes peace." Before Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising, some 5,000 Christians lived in northern Sinai, but the number has since dwindled to fewer than 1,000, priests and residents say. Egypt does not keep official statistics on the number of Christians in cities or across the country. | ||
| Posted by:trailing wife |