Egyptian Protests and Refugees

January 2011

The Situation:

Anti-government protests broke out in Egypt on January 25, 2011. In the following days hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square in what was largely a peaceful protest, calling for Hosni Mubarak, who had been the Egyptian president for the last 30 years, to stand down. In addition to Cairo, protests were also seen in the cities of Alexandria, Mahalla, Luxor and Giza. Initially, Mubarak refused to step down but after 18 days of protest he left office and the Egyptian military took control of the country.

The ELCA has a long presence in Egypt, deploying resources and personnel to many companion churches and church-related organizations in Cairo, including St. Andrew's United Church, St. Andrew's Refugee Services (StARS), the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo and the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services. The compound housing St. Andrew’s United Church and Refugee Services is in close proximity to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the political demonstrations and conflicts in Cairo. Amidst the chaos of the protests the StARS compound was breached by looters.

ELCA Response:

On February 1, ten ELCA mission personnel serving in Cairo were evacuated by ELCA Global Mission on a chartered flight provided by the U.S. State Department. The personnel were among hundreds of U.S. citizens advised by the U.S. government to leave the country. During their time away they remained in close communication with the ministries and programs the ELCA has long engaged. By the end of March, almost all of the missionaries were back in Egypt.

Rev. Peter Johnson serves as the Executive Director of StARS. He shared that the services provided by this organization—including childhood education to 220 refugee children, adult literacy to 600 refugee adults, and legal assistance—were suspended during much of the unrest and up to February 11 when President Mubarak stepped down. As the unrest continued, StARS coordinated with other refugee actors in Cairo, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), evaluating the situation and preparing necessary responses. This included providing welcomed psychosocial assistance, assisting UNHCR with distribution of financial aid to refugees, and purchase of food packages for the most vulnerable. Xenophobia has increased the insecurity and anxiety of the refugee community served by St. Andrew’s, largely from Sudan, Iraq and Somalia.

As the situation stabilized, the ELCA continued its work with StARS as they began to bring their operations back to normalcy. The focus has been providing ongoing support and care to the refugee community of Cairo as well as repairing the physical infrastructure damaged during the riots. Integral responses include: psychosocial care, distribution of material resources, and most importantly, the continuation of educational services to over 800 refugee children and adults in order to provide safety, continued growth and a sense of normalcy. This was carried out in part through an April 18 designation of $5,550 from the ELCA to help support the StARS adult education program.

What you can do:

Pray:

As those in Egypt and the Middle East continue the process of discerning what is best for their countries, Christians are called, as always, to offer prayers and action for justice and peace, to speak for those whose voices are muted, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. For related prayer petitions, check out this link from the ELCA Worship page.

Act Through Advocacy:

Take time to make your concern for justice and human rights known to U.S. and Egyptian officials.

• Share the message in Bishop Hanson's statement urging "the universal human rights of all be respected and protected."
• Insist that all security forces in Egypt uphold their duty to protect the people and preserve their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of speech.
• Let officials know that you expect reforms in Egypt that lead to free and fair elections and self-determination for the Egyptian people.

To read the full call to action from ELCA Advocacy, check out this link.

To see how the situation developed in more detail, check out the following ELCA blogs and news releases:

• Hand in Hand Missionary Blog
  • ELCA Missionaries Serving In Cairo Back in the US - 3 February 2011
  • "Don't Worry Peter, She is My Mother Now" - 2 February 2011
• Disaster Response Blog
  • http://blogs.elca.org/category/egypt
• ELCA News Releases
  • ELCA Missionaries From Egypt Arrive Safely in Istanbul – 1 February 2011
  • ELCA Missionaries Return to Egypt – 11 March 2011

Give:

Those who give to Shared Mission Support and ELCA World Hunger are already helping to fund the ongoing work in Egypt and the deployment of mission personnel through ELCA Global Mission. Special needs and opportunities have arisen in response to the current crisis. The ELCA invites gifts to ELCA Disaster Response in order to continue its work in Egypt, especially among the refugee families in and around Cairo.

You may provide support in the following ways:

• Downloadable bulletin insert
• Donate Online
• Send Checks to:
       ELCA Disaster Response
       39330 Treasury Center
       Chicago, IL 60694
       Memo: Egypt Refugee Relief

Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

^{Photo Credits:  (top right) ELCA/Communications 2/2011
(middle left) Laury Rinker (ELCA) 2010}