[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 59 (Monday, April 26, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E648]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 WHO SPEAKS FOR THE COPTIC CHRISTIANS?

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 26, 2010

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record a bipartisan letter 
which was sent to the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat 
Trafficking in Persons, TIP, expressing ``concern over continuing 
reports of abductions, forced marriages, and exploitation of Coptic 
women and girls in Egypt.'' We urged the TIP Office to investigate 
whether these cases should be included in the upcoming Trafficking in 
Persons Report.
  The U.S. has given Egypt billions of dollars in foreign aid since the 
Camp David Accords, and yet they persist in trampling the rights of 
minorities and brutally suppressing political and human rights. In 
fact, by most accounts there has been backsliding in all of these 
areas.
  With still no Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, when 
was the last time that this administration advocated for the Coptic 
Christians?

                                Congress of the United States,

                                   Washington, DC, April 16, 2010.
     Hon. Luis CdeBaca,
     Ambassador-at-Large, U.S. Department of State, Washington, 
         DC.
       Dear Ambassador CdeBaca: We write today to express our 
     concern over continuing reports of abductions, forced 
     marriages, and exploitation of Coptic women and girls in 
     Egypt. Some of these reports document a criminal phenomenon 
     that includes fraud, physical and sexual violence, captivity, 
     forced marriage, and exploitation in forced domestic 
     servitude or commercial sexual exploitation, and financial 
     benefit to the individuals who secure the forced conversion 
     of the victim. As you know, these are some of the hallmarks 
     of human trafficking.
       Numerous reports, including in Egypt's Al-Ahram Weekly and 
     a November 2009 report issued by the Coptic Foundation for 
     Human Rights and Christian Solidarity International (CSI), 
     point to the grim reality of forced marriage faced by 
     vulnerable Coptic women and girls in Egypt. In the 25 cases 
     documented by the Coptic Foundation for Human Rights and CSI, 
     it is clear that violence, fraud, and/or coercion are used to 
     force vulnerable Egyptian women and girls into marriages for 
     the purpose of forced conversion, and these forced marriages 
     are sometimes accompanied by sexual exploitation or domestic 
     servitude. In some cases the families involved in the 
     abductions and forced conversions receive mysterious 
     financial benefits. Further, it appears, according to their 
     lawyers, that the situations facing the women highlighted in 
     the report are not isolated cases.
       In the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 
     (2008), Congress tasked the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) 
     office with reporting on ``emerging [and] shifting global 
     patterns in human trafficking.'' We respectfully request that 
     the office follow up on the reports coming out of Egypt, 
     investigate whether the cases of abduction, forced marriage, 
     exploitation and other financial benefit to the individuals 
     who secure a forced conversion should be included in the 
     forthcoming 2010 TIP Annual Report, and inform us about your 
     determination on the matter.
       Thank you for your consideration.
           Sincerely,
         Frank Wolf, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chris Smith, Carolyn 
           Maloney, Michele Bachmann, Bob Inglis, Aaron Schock, 
           Eleanor Holmes Norton, Doug Lamborn, Marsha Blackburn, 
           Anna Eshoo, Dan Burton, Donald Payne, Albio Sires, Joe 
           Wilson, Ted Poe, Trent Franks, Anh ``Joseph'' Cao,
     Members of Congress.

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