HG Bishop Angaelos
said:
“...we have confidence in God’s promises and know that His
children throughout the Middle East and throughout the world are in His hand, remembering
His words: 'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD,
thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.' We are
also appreciative of those who feel the need to speak regarding basic human rights
that should not be denied to anyone of any faith anywhere in the world. With
all of this we commit all of those in the Middle East, Christian and Muslim
alike, to God in our prayers, asking for a peaceful existence and transition
for the region during these uncertain times.”
The Archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams stated,
“Issues in Egypt are inevitably among the most immediate in
the minds of many of us just now. Of late, the Coptic community has seen levels
of emigration rise to unprecedented heights, and in a way that would have been
unthinkable even a very few years ago…”
Lord Wood of Anfield,
Shadow Spokesperson commented,
“Some debates in this Chamber are about issues that divide
us, but this is not one of them…The situation and welfare of Christians in the
Middle East is a cause for concern for all of us, whether or not we share the
Christian faith, partly because we should proudly defend the rights of
minorities in the region as elsewhere…the way religious minorities in the
Middle East are treated is a litmus test in that most fragile of regions for
the presence of the basic levels of tolerance and respect that are needed for
genuine stability to emerge.”
Lord Howell, the
minister of state, foreign and commonwealth office presented the Government’s
view stating,
“This potential will be realised only if Governments respond
to demands for respect of universal human rights by implementing reforms that
apply universally to all citizens, regardless of faith, ethnicity or gender,
and the central consideration must be the one that has come through again and
again in this debate…that religious freedom is a basic human right.”
It was evident that there was consensus among all who spoke,
representing all sides of the House, in terms of recognising the seriousness of
the problems currently faced by Christians in Egypt and the Middle East,
emphasising the need to monitor the situation closely in order to ensure the
rights of indigenous Christians in the region.
