VP/HR — Abduction of priests and a nun in Cameroon

8.4.2014

Question for written answer P-004345-14
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 117
Antonio Cancian (PPE)

On 6 April 2014 two Italian priests and a Canadian nun were abducted in northern Cameroon.

Father Giampaolo Marta and Father Gianantonio Allegri are now in the hands of an armed Islamist group that raided the parish in which they served. At present the three are apparently well, but there is little news.

The Italian Foreign Ministry is working to find a solution to the case.

This episode is just the latest in a long series that has been going on for years. Acts of violence against priests, nuns and Christian communities are occurring incessantly in Africa and in many Asian countries, without Europe taking any firm action to defend these people and stop these horrific massacres.

Often, European missionaries and citizens who travel to these countries undergoing humanitarian emergencies, in order to help the local population, are attacked, abducted, tortured and murdered by fanatical groups because of their faith, under the nose of an EU which has made freedom of thought and expression one of its cornerstones.

That said, does the Vice-President/High Representative not think she should help the Italian diplomats by becoming directly involved, in order to secure the release of the abducted priests as soon as possible?

Does the Vice-President/High Representative not agree that the diplomatic tools used so far have been insufficient and that it is therefore necessary to take firmer action, especially through the European External Action Service, in order to stop these persecutions and acts of violence?

OJ C 377, 23/10/2014