According to “The Egyptian Today,” a prominent newspaper in Egypt, schools in Cairo refused enrollment of Baha’i students after having received instructions not to accept applicants who are neither Muslim nor Christian.

Parents have filed a complaint with the Ministry of Education, but have yet to receive a response from any relevant officials. The deadline for school admissions was yesterday. Parents do not know the fate of their Baha’i children, who are being refused their education (despite them being citizens) simply because of their faith.

Yousef Labib, the child’s parent, said in a statement to al Masry Al Youm: “I went to admit my daughter to a school, but its administration refused to accept students who do not state their religion in their birth certificates.” Only Islam and Christianity are accepted as religions, without allowing Baha’i parents to discuss the matter further.

According to Labib, other Baha’i parents have already filed complains for the same purpose, but no action has been taken and these children do not know whether or not they will be able to receive a formal education during the next school year.

Iranian Baha’is have a similar problem, with citizens being deprived of their education due to their religion. We hope that Egypt will not be comparable with such extreme mistreatment, and that Baha’is will soon be treated as citizens with rights that the government is required to respect.

Why are Baha’is being the denied the right to education? For many years people have been asking this question, and yet still, not a single government official from either Iran or Egypt has offered a legitimate response.

Please leave a comment on this article and express your outrage on the absurdity of children being refused their education simply because of their faith. This is a clear abuse of the most basic human rights!

For further information you may also read this article by the Daily News Egypt. Quoting the source:

The Interior Ministry, however, has been slow in implementing the court decision and producing identity cards with a blank religious affiliation field.

We issued a comic inspired by this issue. You may view it again here.