EU Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union seeks to make religious freedom in the Middle East a focus of attention.
In honor of International Religious Freedom Day, Jan Figel, the European Union's first Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, has called on the EU to make the Middle East a priority.
Mr Figel told the Catholic News Agency (CNA) on October 27, 2016, that even though “there are many other places where religious freedom is liquidated, discriminated and oppressed,” the Middle East is an unavoidable focus. He has urged that the genocide of Yazidis and Christians in the Middle East and the refugee crisis be made priorities for Europe.
“It is evident that what it is going on in the Middle East affects the rest of the world,” he said at a media symposium organized by Alliance Defending Freedom International in Brussels.
“I deem that the religious persecutions against Yazidis and Christians can be labeled as genocide, and this is the reason why the Middle East is a priority: there is a crime committed in the geopolitical center of the world, where three continents meet and the most important religions live together,” CNA reports.
Mr. Figel, who served as EU Commissioner for Education from 2004 to 2009, was appointed in May as Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the European Union. The position is an observer role and has a one-year term.
To read the Catholic News Agency’s report, visit: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/for-eus-religious-freedom-envoy-middle-east-is-key-arena-56109/.
