Tackle religious extremism by addressing migrant crisis, Egypt conference hears

CAIRO // Religious fundamentalism will continue to flourish if poverty, disease and the needs of refugees are not addressed, the audience at the International Peace Conference in Cairo was told.

The gathering, co-organised by Al Azhar and the UAE-based Muslim Council of Elders, came three weeks after bombings on Coptic churches in Egypt killed at least 45 people.

Its purpose was to call upon followers of different faiths to trust each other and work together to denounce extremism and promote peace. The conference drew political and spiritual figures from around the world.

The overriding message of the two-day event, which began on Thursday, was that offering ­citizenship to refugees and tackling wealth inequality was essential in thwarting the appeal of extremism.

Dr Mostafa Hegazi, a former adviser to the interim Egyptian president, Adly Mansour, said that poverty’s ramifications were not only felt financially but also had profound effects on people’s rationality.

“It leads to a poverty of thought, imagination and capacity,” said Dr Hegazi, who is also the founder of an Egyptian think tank focused on issues of justice.

The link between violent extremism and extreme poverty is well established and inclined individuals to become racist and nations to resort to war, he said.

“Isn’t it high time we tackled this serious institutional problem,” he said.

“People are not machines that are forced to produce. It’s time we educate people before they become cogs in the employment machine.”

Rev Olav Fykse, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, said that extending citizenship to those in need would serve to provide people with the protection and rights that all people deserved, regardless of their backgrounds.

“Different people should have the same basis of security for their lives and their children’s lives,” he said.

“We need something solid and clear as a platform of our lives ­together.”

Basic human needs such as food, water, security, health, ­education and freedom to believe were all needed to ensure harmonious communities, he said.

Bishop Bola, who was representing Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, called for further inclusion in communities.

“The colonial mentality worldwide has to end, such as is happening in Palestine,” the bishop said.

The Coptic bishop appealed to countries to come to the aid of the oppressed and to narrow the gap between the rich and poor nations.

“I call on nations to address poverty because it is a fertile ground for violent environments,” the bishop said.

The conference concluded ­yesterday with Pope Francis’s visit to Al Azhar, the global seat of Sunni Muslim learning, the first visit there by a Roman Catholic pope.

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