WCC NEWS: WCC issues statement on human trafficking in Sinai desert

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World Council of Churches - News

WCC ISSUES STATEMENT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SINAI DESERT

For immediate release: 24 February 2012

The World Council of Churches (WCC) Executive Committee issued a
statement expressing concern over the disappearance of asylum seekers from
the Horn of Africa and northern Africa, falling prey to human traffickers
in the Sinai desert while crossing borders between Egypt and Israel.

The WCC Executive Committee issued this statement in a recent meeting which
took place from 14-17 February in Bossey, Switzerland.

The statement quoted a report from Agenzia Habeshia, an organization
monitoring the situation of asylum seekers, mentioning that 190 refugees
are currently held captive in the Sinai faced with life-threatening
situations.

The report also points out the plight of asylum seekers kept in jails by
the Egyptian government, facing inhuman treatment and forced deportation.

The Executive Committee statement called on the WCC member churches and
ecumenical organizations to “raise awareness of the situation of asylum
seekers, especially regarding the problem of human trafficking and organ
thefts.”

The statement asked the “Egyptian government to prosecute the traffickers
and close down their detention sites,” as well as encouraged Israeli
authorities to “apprehend suspects within the state who are cooperating
with human traffickers in Sinai.”

The WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0e7bed6df84e37406c60 ) (CCIA)
organized a round table meeting in Geneva last year highlighting the
situation of human trafficking in Sinai Desert.  The issue was also
discussed with African churches at various levels.

Read full text of the WCC Executive Committee statement (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9a09712c70f3e657fcb3 )

WCC expresses concern over human trafficking in Sinai Desert
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8fdc8ef8898a6c4b912a
)(WCC press release of 18 November 2011)

WCC programme on human rights (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=d0a7b6cd05c743012f3d )


The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness 
and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of 
churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, 
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, 
from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.



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