(Image courtesy of Compass Direct News)
Morocco (MNN) ― Morocco has deported 26 more foreign-born Christians in the space of ten days, Compass Direct News reports, bringing the total number of Christians deported since early March to about 105. It seems the government is under pressure from Islamic hardliners to purge the nation of Christianity.
"I don't see the end," said Salim
Sefiane, a Moroccan living abroad. "I see this as a ‘cleansing' of Christians
out of Morocco. Then I see this turning against the Moroccan church, which
is already underground, and then persecution of Moroccan Christians, which is
already taking place in recent days."
Approximately 1,000 Moroccans are Christians - some are even third-generation Christians. Some of the local believers are already suffering psychologically "heavy" interrogations at police stations on a daily basis. At least two were beaten in the last couple weeks.
Although 99 percent of its population is Muslim, Morocco has historically tolerated Christianity among both its nationals and its expatriates. Recent developments have taken many by surprise, but they are perhaps inevitable, a regional legal expert said. He explained that the Organization of the Islamic Conference has been pressuring Middle Eastern and African nations to purge themselves of Christianity.
"Countries which have been more forward-looking and spoken about rights, freedoms and equalities have been pressured to demonstrate their Muslim credentials. And the best way to do this is to sanitize [religious] minorities from the borders," he said.
The government is carrying out its purge in violation of Morocco's own law. Unless they face a criminal accusation, foreigners who have lived in the country for over ten years may not be deported. Once they receive the deportation order, they have 48 hours in which to appeal it.
Almost none of the deportees, however, have had the opportunity to appeal. Most receive only a few hours' notice before they are summarily escorted to the country's exit ports. Authorities only produced an official deportation order for three of the victims. In most cases, the deportees were presented with an Arabic document they were expected to sign, stating that they "understood" they were to be deported.
"Most of these [deportations] are happening over the weekends, when the courts are closed," Sefiane said. "Most of them are done in a way where they're bringing them in [to the police station], intimidating them, and manhandling them out of the country. Many of them are not even going back to say goodbye to their wives, or even to pack a bag."
In one case, a man who resisted
was forcibly drugged and sent out of the country.
"The expats in the country are very vulnerable, and the way it has happened has
been against the laws of the country," said a European Christian who was
deported last week after nearly a decade of running his business in Morocco.
"When I tried to walk away from the situation, I was physically stopped."
"Basically they are trying to con everyone into leaving the country," he said.
Deportees from North America,
Latin America, Europe, Africa, New Zealand and Korea have been forced to leave
behind their wives, children, communities, and businesses without even saying
goodbye. In many cases the deportation
left the family without a breadwinner.
"It's devastating, because we
have invested years of our lives into our community, business community and
charity sectors," said the European Christian. "People flooded to our house when
they heard I was bundled into the back of a police car by the local
authorities. It was like a death in the family -- forcibly ejected from the
country without being able to say goodbyes, just like that."
According to a regional legal expert who spoke on condition of anonymity, a
small cohort of Islamic extremists is running a media campaign to "get
[Christians'] good works out of the public eye and demonize Christians." The goal is to expel foreign Christians and
turn the Moroccan people against local Christians.
"There are too many eyes and ears
to what they want to do to the native Christians," the expert explained. "They're trying to get to them... They want to
shut down the native Moroccan Christians."
The deportation orders originate in the Ministry of Interior, where a hard-line Muslim took the position of interior director in January. Officials cite "proselytism" as the justification for the deportations. Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs Minister Ahmed Toufiq told Reuters that "proselytism" and the "activism of some foreigners" had "undermined public order."
Moroccan media reported on April 12 that 7,000 religious Muslim leaders signed a statement that described Christian activities in the country as "moral rape" and "religious terrorism." A nationwide mudslinging campaign vilified Moroccan Christians as people who bribed others to convert to Christianity.
"We've been told that the Christians
are a threat to the national security, so they are using terrorism laws against
peace-loving Christians," said the deported European Christian. "But it is
massively backfiring."
"The biggest problem is the image
the Ministry of Justice is pushing about who the Christian foreigners are," an observer
explained on condition of anonymity. "All the articles have been extreme
exaggerations of the manipulative aspect of what foreigners were doing,
especially when it comes to minors."
So behind the purge is a twisted lie: the lie that upstanding people who have contributed to the nation's culture and economy are "religious terrorists." This lie can only have a destructive effect on the nation of Morocco.
"They expelled people who helped
build up the country, trained people, educated Moroccan children, cared for
orphans and widows, increased the GDP and trade," said the regional legal
expert. "These people they expelled weren't even proselytizing under their own
law. There's an international standard, yet they changed the definition of the
terminology and turned it into this horrible ‘religious terrorism.'"
In the midst of the injustice, Christians have a new opportunity to bear witness to the Gospel. Many Moroccans are asking their Christian friends about their faith.
"They are being impacted by the reality of Christ through this, and it's having more of an effect on the community than years and years of quietly demonstrating Christ peacefully and lawfully," said the deported European Christian. "By breaking their own laws, they have opened the lid on the reality of the life of Christ."
In the meantime, the co-chairman of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission is fighting to bring pressure to bear on the Moroccan government. Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) has called congressional hearings on June 17 to investigate the human rights situation. He also called on the U.S. government to suspend $697.5 million in aid. The aid was awarded on the basis of the fact that Morocco was "ruling justly."
Unfortunately, justice is no longer the reality in Morocco. Pray for the deported Christians and the Christians who remain.
