Secretary of State for Asylum and Immigration Theo Francken (N-VA) posted a long message on his Facebook page to attract attention to Middle East Christians on this Easter Sunday. Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, in which their situation is particularly worrisome, 903 Christians have been saved by Belgium, he underlines.
“In government-controlled areas, Christians are protected by the army, but even there, they can be victims of attacks perpetrated by Moslem terrorists”, writes the Secretary of State.
In 2015, Belgium saved 244 Christians from Aleppo during a special action initiated by an action group supported by the authorities. “To this day, we have been able to save 903 Syrian Christians, focusing on Assyrian communities from the devastated Eastern part of the country,” indicates Mr. Francken.
Though nobody contests the merit of operations led for the benefit of Syrian Christians, several organizations and political figures have criticized Theo Francken in the past for not being as proactive towards Moslems, equally victims of the war.
Myria, the Federal Immigration Centre, pointed out in particular the lack of transparency in the delivery of humanitarian visas. The Flemish nationalist has always refuted this criticism, ensuring that his concern for Syrian citizens depended above all on their degree of vulnerability.
In his message, the political leader asks, moreover, that Europe support the Egyptian government so that it might protect Christian Copts “against Islamist terror.”
The Brussels Times
