Christians leaving Sinai 
Christians are fleeing the Sinai region of Egypt following the latest murders targeting the community, and just days after so-called Islamic State (ISIS) called for the slaughter of all Christians there.
According to reports from the region, following a February 19 video which appeared online to call on supporters of ISIS to target Christians in Sinai, a 65-year-old Christian, Saied Hakim, and his 45-year-old son were attacked in their home in Sinai’s main city al Arish. While Saied was shot to death, his son was reportedly burned alive.
Two days later, and also in al Arish, gunmen stormed the home of Kamel Youssef, described as a plumber, and shot him dead in front of his family.
Now Christian families have begun to pack up and leave Sinai in the hope of finding security elsewhere in the country. According to the Associated Press, over last weekend alone, at least 75 families arrived in the city of Ismailia on the Suez Canal in preparation for onward migration, possibly to Cairo or to the Christian stronghold of Alexandria.
Many of the migrants spoke of having received death threats to their mobile phones.
Development
The Christians of Sinai have endured a wave of murders since the start of 2017 – the latest bringing to six the number of dead – but the ISIS video stands as a worrying new development for the community.
The Irish Catholic last week reported on the activities of Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (the Supporters of Jerusalem), a group which has been fighting the Egyptian authorities since 2011 and three years ago pledged its allegiance to the leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi.
While no group has claimed responsibility for last week’s murders, security services believe the group is behind them and seeks to drive all Christians from Egypt.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has held an emergency meeting with his government and ordered all necessary steps to be taken to resettle displaced Christians.
