Ethnic/Religious Communities in Egypt: Grievances and Inclusive Prospects
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ISSUE BRIEF 10.05.18 Ethnic/Religious Communities in Egypt: Grievances and Inclusive Prospects Hala Nouhad Nasreddine, Lebanese American University Egypt is ranked 36th out of 178 states in the resulted in the deaths of about 50 and 2018 Fragile States Index conducted by The 305 individuals, respectively.2 Additionally, Fund For Peace.1 The index placed Egypt Copts and prominent Shiite figures were under the “high warning” category—in targeted and assassinated in several which higher scores indicate higher levels of different incidents; for instance, four Shiite fragility—with a score of 88.7 out of 120. The figures were assassinated in 2013 and report suggests that Egypt is most fragile two Coptic churches were bombed on in the areas of human rights and the rule of Palm Sunday in 2017.3 Despite Egyptian law (9.9/10) and group grievances (8.9/10) President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s emphasis on (Figure 1). While Egypt is a state founded on inclusion, progress has been minimal in part equal citizenship regardless of religious or because the state refuses to acknowledge ethnic identity, long-standing grievances discrimination against different religious and among minority groups such as the Copts, ethnic communities. Moreover, these ethnic the Shiites, the Nubians, and the Bedouins and religious minorities are marginalized indicate fundamental problems with regard by the state, the media, and other societal to the state of pluralism in Egypt. actors, worsening the problem. This brief examines the status of Egypt’s different ethnic and religious communities and intercommunal divisions, with an I. COPTS Despite Egyptian emphasis on the policy implications of The Copts are the largest minority group President Abdel Fattah entrenching pluralism. Specifically, questions in Egypt and constitute the majority of the El Sisi’s emphasis on to be explored include: What grievances Christians in the country. They account for have the different minority groups in Egypt inclusion, progress approximately 10% of the country’s overall experienced? How can Egypt become a more has been minimal in population.4 There are three “clusters” of inclusive state for the different ethnic and Copts in Egypt: in the Minya-Assiut region part because the state religious groups? The analysis focuses on (17.6% of the region’s total population), in refuses to acknowledge the following communities: Copts, Nubians, the Assiut-Sohag region (15.1%), and in the Shiites, and Bedouins in Sa’id and Sinai. discrimination against Greater Cairo region (9.4%).5 The Copts have Pluralism in Egypt is an urgent issue. different religious and been allocated 24 seats in parliament based Violence against minorities is increasingly on a religious quota,6 which was instituted ethnic communities. becoming the principal mechanism for in the 2014 electoral law codified under resolving intercommunal conflicts. This interim president Adly Mansour. The law is evident in recent attacks against the stipulates that parliamentary members may Copts, the Sufis, and the Shiites; for be elected through individual campaigns for instance, two Christian churches and one specific seats and via closed absolute lists Sufi-affiliated mosque (Rawda mosque whereby voters can only vote for the list in Sinai) were bombed in 2017, which RICE UNIVERSITY’S BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY // ISSUE BRIEF // 10.05.18 FIGURE 1 — EGYPT’S RANKING IN THE FRAGILE STATES INDEX, 2014–2018 10 9 8 7 6 5 Indicator Scores 4 3 2 1 0 Security Aparatus Group Grievances Economic Decline State Legitimacy Human Rights and Rule of Law 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 SOURCE The Fund for Peace as a whole, and that each party list should holding between one and three ministry include at least three Christians among its 15 positions under the Nasser, Sadat, Mubarak, candidates.7 In addition to the 24 allocated and Morsi administrations. seats, 12 individual Coptic candidates were Additionally, Copts suffer the effects elected to parliament, bringing the total of discriminatory language in official number of Coptic members of parliament to discourse that categorizes them as 36 out of 596 total MPs.8 second-class citizens. Although the Egyptian Copts face various challenges 2014 constitution guarantees freedom to their inclusion into the country’s social, of religion, it also declares Islam as the economic, and political realms. One of the official religion of the state and prohibits main challenges is their relative absence conversion to any other religion.9 from prominent public roles; few Copts serve Furthermore, attacks against Christians in as university presidents or governors, or in Northern Egypt who sought to build new sensitive military and security positions, for churches were reported in May 2018.10 example. Likewise, Copts are largely excluded Copts also are often subject to eruptions from Egypt’s political life, particularly with of violence.11 Various radical Islamist groups regard to cabinet positions; their presence in Egypt like Wilayat Sinai (an Islamic State in the cabinet recently dropped from three affiliate in Sinai) have targeted Coptic out of 36 ministry positions to just one out churches, religious figures, and church- of 32 (MP Nabila Makram), following El-Sisi’s goers of all ages. For instance, on Palm cabinet changes in June 2018. Copts had Sunday in April 2017, Coptic churches St. always been nominally represented in the George’s Coptic Cathedral in Tanta and cabinet since Egypt’s independence in 1952, St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in 2 ETHNIC/RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN EGYPT: GRIEVANCES AND INCLUSIVE PROSPECTS Alexandria suffered deadly attacks, with displacement took place between 1963 and about 50 people killed.12 In April 2013, 1964, when around 50,000 Nubians were several Coptic churches were destroyed displaced into 33 villages north of the city following a sectarian clash between Muslims of Aswan following the flooding caused by and Christian Copts in the town of Khosus construction of the Aswan High Dam and in northern Cairo. The Egyptian government the consequent Lake Nasser. Although the promised to reconstruct the damaged government compensated the Nubians with sanctuaries; however, these pledges new homes following their resettlement in have thus far not been fulfilled.13 Less the 1960s, Nubians were largely dissatisfied importantly, yet still significant, Copts also because they were provided uncomfortable, face discrimination in sports; some Coptic cement-block houses that were very football players “had been excluded from different from their old homes. Moreover, national and international competitions due their resettlement “disrupted family ties to their religious identity.”14 and ignored historical rivalries among the three Nubian ethnic groups,” since Nubia had its own pluralism; the different tribal II. NUBIANS groups in Nubia spoke different languages and had competing interests. Further, the Nubia was an ancient African kingdom resettlement of Nubians did not take into around the Nile that extended from the Nile consideration the Nubian identity, as many River Valley in Upper Egypt eastward to the schools in the new areas taught only Arabic, shores of the Red Sea, south to Khartoum, thereby weakening the younger generations’ Egyptian Copts face and west toward the Libyan Desert. Nubia 20 ties with their Nubian identity and history. various challenges to had its own autonomy within Egypt under Additionally, the government forced certain King Farouk and had minimal relations with conditions upon the Nubian farmers, such their inclusion into 15 Egypt prior to the 1952 revolution. Yet as requiring them to join agricultural the country’s social, post-1952, the Egyptian regime became cooperatives and pressuring them to add economic, and political overtly involved in Nubia after the Aswan commercial crops like sugarcane that were realms. One of the High Dam flooded the Nubians’ residences in not part of their traditional agricultural the Nubian valley and consequently ruined heritage. All of these issues led the Nubians main challenges is their it. This was detrimental to Nubians; the to start reconstructing their own villages in relative absence from 7,000-year-old kingdom has nothing left of their ancestral lands around Lake Nasser’s prominent public roles. its historical boundaries but “a thin, sparsely shores. By the 1980s, they succeeded in populated strip of land along the Nile that's building about four villages.21 now bisected by the Egypt-Sudan border Today, Nubians’ main demand is the 16 and is crossable only by boat.” While the right to return back to “their ancestral home” U.S. Library of Congress estimated that there around the Nile River Valley in Upper Egypt. were around 160,000 Nubians in Egypt in Although the post-revolution constitution of 1990, National Geographic in 2014 estimated 2014 recognized the land as belonging to the 17 their population to be around 300,000, Nubians and declared that the area would divided across three different linguistic be developed within 10 years (Article 236),22 groups: “the Kenuzi in northern Nubia; the a decree issued by El-Sisi in January 2016 beduin-descended Arabs in central Nubia; proclaimed this area “off-limits and under and the Fadija-speaking people in southern military control.”23 Nubia.”18 Furthermore, Nubians have been subjected to racist comments due to their dark skin, which distinguishes them from III. SHIITES Egyptian Arabs.19 Although Nubians were resettled The estimated Shiite population in Egypt twice under British mandate due to the ranges between 800,000 and 2 million, construction of the Aswan Dam in 1902 according to a 2016 U.S. Department of and its transformation into the Aswan Low State Report.24 However, there is no official Dam between 1913 and 1933, their major census or data from the Central Agency for 3 RICE UNIVERSITY’S BAKER INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY // ISSUE BRIEF // 10.05.18 Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) Brotherhood and then-Egyptian president on the size of this religious community.