01.08.2013

100 days since abduction of orthodox bishops in Syria

100 days after Syrian Orthodox Bishop Gregorius Hanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Bishop Mor Boulose Yazigi were kidnapped by terroristson April 23rdin Aleppo, Syria, both bishops are still missing and there is no clear information about the identity of the kidnappers, their motivation and demands, their whereabouts, the health condition of the Archbishops etc. However it is likely that the abductors were a local Syrian rebel group.

Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, declares:

It is important that native Syrian Christians are entitled to live in safety in their ancestral homeland. The European Union supports the establishment of a free and democratic Syria, not a country where fundamentalists who intend to transform secular Syria into a sharia-based state, that can perpetrate threats, kidnappings and killings with complete impunity before the eyes of a lethargic international community. The responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of the two abducted bishops lies primarily with the Syrian opposition, which claims to be in military and civil control in the area where the abduction took place.

There have been consistent reports of violence directed against Christians in Syria since the uprising began in March 2011, including attacks on churches.

Christians form an estimated 10% of Syria’s population and their community in Damascus is one of the oldest in the world.

Für weitere Informationen:
Elmar Brok MdEP, Tel. +32 2 284 7323