On This Day: Egyptians who are not members of recognized religions allowed IDs - Jan. 29, 2008
(edited from Wikipedia)
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Egyptian identification card controversy
The Egyptian identification card controversy is a series of events, beginning in the 1990s, that created a de facto state of disenfranchisement for Egyptian Baháʼís, atheists, agnostics, and other Egyptians who did not identify themselves as Muslim, Christian, or Jewish on government identity documents.
Those affected could not obtain identification cards, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage or divorce certificates, or passports. Without those documents, they could not be employed, educated, treated in hospitals, or vote, among other things.
During the period of disenfranchisement, the people affected, who were mostly Baháʼís, were unable to obtain the necessary government documents to have rights in their country unless they lied about their religion, which conflicted with Baháʼí religious principle.
Court cases
On January 29, 2008 Cairo's court of Administrative Justice, ruling on two related court cases, and after six postponements, ruled in favour of the Baháʼís, allowing them to obtain birth certificates and identification documents, so long as they omit their religion on court documents; the government may, however, still appeal against the judgement. The director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who has brought the two cases to court, stated "This is a very welcome decision. It addresses a great injustice suffered by Bahai citizens who face arbitrary and discriminatory practices based on their religious beliefs. We urge that the authorities implement the Administrative Court's decision."
The chief judge in the court case stated that while the Baha'i Faith is still not recognized as one of the three officially recognized state religions, they will enjoy the right to refuse to identify oneself as one of those three religions, and will have access to state cards. Egyptian Ministry of Interior was slow to implement the ruling: as of April 22, 2008, no identification cards had been issued to Baháʼís.
Regulation changed to reflect ruling and first cards issued
To comply with the January 2008 ruling, on April 14, 2009, the interior minister of Egypt released a decree amending the law to allow Egyptians who are not Muslim, Christian, or Jewish to obtain identification documents that list a dash in place of one of the three recognized religions. The first identification cards were issued to two Baháʼís (the two twins who have turned 16 by then) under the new decree on August 8, 2009.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_identification_card_controversy
(Extremely detailed article here)
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U.S. Embassy in Egypt
2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Egypt
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https://eg.usembassy.gov/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom-egypt/
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