Christians expelled from Morocco

27.4.2010

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3161/10
by Íñigo Méndez de Vigo (PPE)
to the Commission

A joint declaration signed on 7 March 2010 at the European Union‑Morocco Summit in Granada highlighted the importance that both parties ‘attach to respecting, protecting and encouraging human rights fundamental freedoms, and to consolidating the rule of law’.

That very same day, 16 of the staff of a Christian orphanage in Morocco were deported, accused of proselytism and of seeking to undermine the Muslim faith. Since that date, over 80 further Christians have suffered the same fate, without being given a trial and without any respect for the presumption of their innocence. Some of them, such as the Franciscan Rami Zaki, of Egyptian origin, were expelled without even being able to go to their homes and collect their belongings, for the simple fact of speaking Arabic.

In all this time, no European government has made any statement — unlike the USA, which has lodged a complained via its ambassador in Rabat.

What does the Commission intend to do about this matter? How does it intend to ensure that the declaration signed by the Kingdom of Morocco is acted on?

OJ C 138 E, 07/05/2011