Carlo Fidanza debates persecution of minorities on the grounds of belief or religion

Carlo Fidanza (ECR). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, con l'intergruppo per la libertà religiosa attendevamo da tempo questa relazione, e voglio davvero ringraziare di cuore il collega Karski, che ha lavorato duramente su questa relazione, anche sul negoziato che ne è seguito.

Purtroppo però condivido con i colleghi che, nonostante gli sforzi straordinari, questa trattativa poi si è rivelata problematica. Tutti i riferimenti che dovevano e potevano denunciare la situazione in cui vivono milioni di fedeli, in primo luogo cristiani, più dell'80 per cento, ma anche baha'i, uiguri, rohingya e molti altri che quotidianamente rischiano la propria vita per il loro credo sono stati eliminati. Sono stati rimossi anche i riferimenti ai regimi colpevoli di queste persecuzioni, dalla Cina, alla Nigeria, al Pakistan.

Insomma, il mondo è pieno di persone che rischiano la vita per la loro fede, ma non scriviamo di chi è la colpa. In compenso abbiamo un testo pieno di richiami al tema dell'aborto, perché come sempre ormai si cerca di utilizzare una risoluzione importante per affermare una propria agenda ideologica.

Per questa ragione – chiudo Presidente – insieme ad altri colleghi abbiamo presentato alcuni emendamenti e richieste di voto separato, perché vogliamo essere liberi di difendere chi soffre in ragione del proprio credo, senza dover aderire al pensiero unico della sinistra.

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MEP Peter VanDalen: Thank you, president. I co-operated on this report. Particular attention to the persecution of religious minorities is scant in this Parliament. I was pleased to be involved in producing this report. We need to look at specific names and organizations persecuted because of their religious beliefs. No names were listed in the report and that is a shame. I would point to a report put together by the Intergroup for Religious Freedoms. I am co-chair together with another MEP and in this report, you can see what happened between 2017 and 2021 and you will see many tangible examples of individuals persecuted for their religious beliefs. So I would urge you to download this report and read it. We in the Parliament need to follow up on this, and I would urge the Commission to look at religious persecution. This has taken far too long.

MEP Bert-Jan RUISSEN: Thank you, President. My thanks also to the rapporteur for presenting this report. A useful report on the persecution of religious minorities. I share his concerns with Mr Van Dalen. Christians are barely named in this report. I think that is a shame. I really don’t understand the fact that in this report the faithful are criticized for their position on abortion. It is indefensible. This is a subject that goes beyond the scope of this report. It is not the point of the report. Last but not least, it is important that we protect life, including the life of the unborn. We shouldn’t be criticizing the faithful. We should praise them for their concerns and their care for the life of all. Thank you.

MEP Soraya RODRIGUEZ RAMOS: In this parliament, we’ve spoken about religious minorities, a number of different reports on human rights, which touch upon the persecution of all minorities, religious and others. But we have also wanted in this particular report to not put together a hierarchy of suffering, but we wanted to speak about the instrument fertilization of belief or religion in the creation of legislation which deliberately persecutes individuals. The criminalization of different groups and now go beyond religions and confessions. But the LGBT groups, for example, in Uganda and legislation which discriminates against women as well. And here we ought to remember there are a number of countries which still have not ratified the Istanbul convention. So indeed, this is very important. But let’s go beyond faith as well. Thank you very much to the rapporteur.

MEP Miriam LEXMANN: Thank you very much. Dear colleagues, from Nigeria to China, the state of religious freedom continues to deteriorate from genocide to legal restrictions. Hundreds of millions of believers, be there Christians, Muslims, Buddhists or other groups, are facing terrible suffering every day. Why? Our welcome. The EP’s report on the persecution of Religious Freedom. I cannot help but to express my dismay at the way this report has been hijacked to the to stigmatize religion itself. Today, religious persecution is one of the key drivers of many of the challenges the world faces. And that is why not an ideological anti-religious stance, but firm support for the persecuted around the world, together with the appointment of a new Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion, supported with the right instruments, must be the priority. Thank you.