In a disturbing escalation, the Baha'i International Community (BIC) today issued a statement making public concerns at the policies of Egyptian authorities to systematically persecute the Baha'i religious minority in the country. Baha'is in Egypt—of whom there are probably several thousand—face harassment, denial of civil rights, family separations, and invasive surveillance by state security agencies.

Recent efforts by the Egyptian authorities to deepen this discrimination have moved the BIC to bring these injustices to public attention.

“Today the Baha'i International Community is taking the grave step of exposing, in public, our profound concerns at six decades of discrimination and persecution against the Egyptian Baha'i community, a situation which is getting worse,” said Dr. Saba Haddad, a BIC Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.

“The policies and practices of these Egyptian institutions have caused great suffering to Baha'is throughout the country, aiming to suppress Baha'i identity and prevent Baha'is from obtaining basic civil rights. These policies deny the Baha'i community its fundamental rights to freedom of religion, the practice of their Faith's tenets, and the right to live a normal, dignified life with their families and to earn a livelihood,” Dr. Haddad added, “with no indications from the authorities of any intention to change their deplorable approach.”

Dr. Haddad said: “What is surprising is that while several countries in the region are moving towards promoting values of coexistence and citizenship, taking genuine positive steps that deserve praise and appreciation, we are witnessing in Egypt – which has always been a leader in the region – a systematic increase in targeting Baha'i citizens because of their beliefs. This situation is inconsistent with Egypt’s status and its declared objectives.”

She added: “The history of the Baha'is in Egypt dates back to 1868. They are Egyptian citizens who are loyal to their homeland and wish only to live in their country peacefully, serving their nation and fellow citizens. Is it conceivable in a country as rich in heritage as Egypt, that official entities would target men, women, and children in cities and villages for decades merely because their belief is different? The Egyptian government must correct this wrong and immediately lift all unjust restrictions — and its partners in the international community should urge it to do so.”

The human rights situation in Egypt will be examined in January 2025 during the upcoming Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The BIC calls on Human Rights Council members to raise the situation of Baha'is with the Egyptian government and seek a positive way forward to resolve this stain on Egypt’s standing and reputation among the community of nations.

Decades of discrimination—and rising fears of even worse

Egyptian Baha'is have endured more than 65 years of extensive state-sponsored discrimination, from the deprivation of civil rights, limitations on access to public services, barriers to education and employment, threats of deportation and forced separation of family members, denial of the community’s access to cemetery land, and the stripping of their religious identity. 

Since the beginning of 2024, for example, there have been multiple cases of discrimination against Baha'is in Egypt. Authorities have denied legal recognition of the Baha’i marriage ceremony and pressured individuals through mounting harassment and surveillance by national security agencies.

One example, concerning an elderly Egyptian Baha'i woman, and a grandmother, who is married to a non-Egyptian man, exposes how the refusal to register her marriage in her official documents due to her being a Baha'i has stripped her family of their rights and security. “I spent decades serving Egypt and contributing to community-building,” the woman, who cannot be identified for security reasons, says. “It pains me as a mother and a grandmother to see the word ‘single’ on my official documents because they have refused for all these years to process my request, despite knowing very well that I am legally married …  As a result, I have been unable to secure my children’s civil and constitutional rights, and I won’t be able to leave an inheritance for them.”  Her children have been denied Egyptian citizenship, and face ongoing uncertainty in obtaining residency permits. “The hardest part for me is imagining that my children may not be around to take care of me as I age,” the woman says. “I fear being left all alone… we are treated like criminals.”

Another Baha'i woman highlights the additional pressures resulting from these discriminatory policies against the Baha'is and how these policies create numerous cultural challenges. “It is extremely distressing that my mother has to face this social stigma because of the refusal to document her marriage in her official papers solely because she is a Baha'i. Imagine a Baha'i woman who is legally married but whose documents state otherwise due to discriminatory practices.” the woman says, “The culture in Egypt is quite sensitive to the idea of single women having children, often viewing them as engaging in inappropriate behavior.”

Systematic obstacles to family and civil rights

Recent government actions have reversed previous court rulings that granted Baha'i married couples limited recognition of their marriages—leading to significant civil and economic repercussions. A voided marriage deprives spouses of the legal status required for pensions, inheritance, alimony, child custody, and residency permits.

The effect on the economic livelihoods and well-being of Baha'is is also a growing concern for the community. “Obstacles in career development due to our faith have prevented me from working for almost a decade,” one Baha'i said, “leaving me struggling financially to provide for my children.”

And in a stark case of family separation, a non-Egyptian Baha'i woman, married to an Egyptian Baha'i man for over a decade, was denied re-entry into Egypt after visiting her home country. Despite meeting all legal requirements, she was informed that her marriage was invalid and was denied an Egyptian entry visa. Her forced absence separated her from her husband and young children for over seven months.

Another Baha'i woman—classified as a foreign national born to an Egyptian mother—was denied citizenship because her parents are Baha'is and was instead granted a residency permit exemption. However, in recent months, after depositing her passport with the authorities to obtain her exemption card, she was shocked to find it stamped with a deportation order requiring her to leave Egypt. The woman now faces exile to a country in a state of war—as well as separation from two young children and her elderly mother.

Barriers to religious rights and community life

Baha'is in Egypt are also denied their fundamental right to community-building activities and other community and service projects. The authorities monitor and disrupt Baha'i activities, including social projects intended to improve community life, and discourage Egyptians from associating with Baha'i friends and colleagues.

“As Baha'is, we always strive to build united communities.” said one Baha'i,  "The authorities are aware of all our activities and community-building efforts, and their reactions and attitudes are unjustified.” Another Baha'i said, “we are under constant surveillance,” adding that people in the Baha'i community "receive messages that remind us of this and threaten us for practicing our faith."

In response to a Baha'i community appeal for land to be designated for a Baha'i cemetery in Alexandria, the State Commissioner, despite independently having the authority to allocate land for this purpose, requested the opinion of Al-Azhar, the foremost Islamic religious institution in the country, which issued a recommendation to him to deny the Baha'is dignified burial rights, arguing that any allocation of land for Baha'is could “rupture the fabric of the [wider] community.” The State Commissioner chose to accept Al Azhar’s recommendation leaving the Baha'is with limited options for burial at just one overcrowded cemetery in Cairo.

Historical background

The Baha'i community in Egypt has faced systematic and deliberate discrimination driven by sectarian motives and supported by government authorities for nearly a century.

• Early Opposition: Since the 1920s, members of the Muslim clergy and religious courts have actively opposed the Baha'i Faith in Egypt. Al-Azhar has issued multiple fatwas denouncing the Baha'is as infidels and warning society against interacting with them. In 1960, President Gamal Abdel Nasser issued a decree banning all Baha'i activities, dissolving Baha'i institutions, and confiscating all Baha'i properties, including their cemeteries. This decree officially institutionalized the state-sponsored discrimination of Baha'is, denying them basic rights and recognition. 

• Denial of ID Cards: For decades, Baha'is were unable to obtain national ID cards because the authorities decided to not recognize their religion on official documents. This action effectively rendered them stateless, denying them access to education, employment, and government services. A 2008 court ruling allowed Baha'is to use a dash (-) in the religion field of ID cards, but the dash (-) itself has since been used as a tool of ongoing discrimination against the Baha'is.

• Non-Recognition of Marriages: Over the past several decades, Baha'i marriages have not been officially recognized, despite the many efforts by the community to resolve this issue. In 2017, Ministry of Justice officials advised the Baha'i community that Baha'i married couples should individually seek court rulings to validate their marriages. Despite some positive court verdicts, the State then recently appealed these decisions, preventing the implementation of those court rulings that did recognize Baha'i marriages. Some married couples who received a positive verdict and were able to change their marital status to “married” on their ID cards in 2017 have found that, when renewing their ID cards in 2024, they were re-issued as “single.”  An internal bylaw of the Office of Registry has institutionalized this discrimination, with Article 134, stating the following: “Baha'i marriages may not be notarized among themselves or between them and other adherents of other religions that are recognized in the Arab Republic of Egypt…”  The non-recognition of marriages has many flow-on effects including inability to register births, secure inheritance rights, receive pensions, and more.

• Denial of Burial Rights: The government confiscated several Baha'i cemeteries in 1960 and has since refused to allocate any new land for this purpose. Baha'is have access to only one burial ground for the whole of Egypt which is now approaching full capacity. The community filed lawsuits in the governorates of Alexandria and Port Said seeking to secure the allocation of land for cemeteries. The State Commissioners sought the opinion of the religious authorities in Al-Azhar, which in response issued the following edict on 26 June 2021 further demonstrating their involvement in the ongoing discrimination: “It is not permissible to allocate a plot of land for the burial of the dead for those who have the (-) dash sign or anything else, for this could lead to discrimination, further segregation and division, and rupture the fabric of the community.”

• Harassment and Surveillance by the National Security Agency: Baha'is are regularly harassed, intimidated and interrogated by security agencies. Their social and humanitarian projects are shut down, and their friends and associates are discouraged from maintaining relationships with them.

Contact:

Saba Haddad, Representative, Geneva, [[email protected]](https://[email protected]), ‭ +41783082219 (English & Arabic)