Egyptian ID Cards List Your Religion

In another time and in another place
the all-powerful State forced people to declare their religion.

"In Egypt, you can be asked to state your religion in all kinds of situations — for example to sign a sales agreement, or even to register for university!”

• Egyptian Christians are targeted by the State by being forced to declare their religion on State issued ID Cards and other documents.

In Egypt, identity cards feature a citizen’s name, picture, profession… and religion! A group of young Egyptian activists feels that this last bit of information is irrelevant, and have launched a Facebook campaign against what they see as government intrusiveness.

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The campaign, called “Haga tkhosseni (“None of your business”), was launched by a group of young people that includes Muslims as well as Coptic Christians. They want the government to eliminate the “religion” box on Egyptian identity cards reports France 24 News.

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The campaign encourages Egyptian citizens to stick a piece of paper that says “human being” or “none of your business” (or some other rejection of this categorization) over the spot where their card reads “Muslim” or “Christian”.

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This campaign was launched several days after sectarian violence broke out between Copts and Muslims near Cairo, causing six deaths. It was inspired by a similar campaign that took place last year.

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Egypt’s Copts make up about 10% of the country’s population of 85 million people.

"I need to see your papers."