Three Children: No Birth Certificates -- No Rights

Here is another example of the egregious violations of basic civil and human rights of the Egyptian Baha'is.

These are three Egyptian children deprived of their basic rights simply because they have Baha'i parents. The siblings, 5-year old Asser and 4-year old Sandrella Hany Ahmed Mousa, and their 1-year old cousin Mona Dia el-Deen Ahmed Mousa were born in the city of Ismailia located in the Suez Canal region of the country.

Starting five years ago with the birth of Asser, the parents of these children have been trying all means available to them to obtain birth certificates but had nothing in return except for denials and mockery.

In a complaint addressed to Egypt's National Council for Childhood and Motherhood and the National Council for Human Rights, the parents described the rejection and the humiliation they have been subjected to in their attempts to obtain birth certificates for their children. They also stated that they have been refused vaccination and schooling for their children as a consequence of the denial of birth certificates.

The reasons given to the parents as a justification for the denials are 1) the parents have no family ID cards and 2) their Baha'i marriage certificates are not recognized as valid in Egypt. Thus they do not exist as seen by the civil authorities governing these personal status matters.

After appealing to the various governmental agencies that sent them back to the the office of registration in Ismailia, they were told by the office employee that the deadline for registering their children had passed the required 15 days within which registration must have been completed, thus there was nothing he could do to help them.

In addition to being deprived of their right to education, the lack of vaccination--which is government-controlled in Egypt--makes these children susceptible to all childhood dangerous diseases, including Poliomyelitis, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Small Pox, Whooping Cough, Tuberculosis and Measles. They are also vulnerable to other diseases prevalent in that region such as Typhoid Fever, and Hepatitis-A & B.

When one of the parents respectfully asked the director of the Ismailia Public Health Authority: "if one of these children dies, would he or she be issued a death certificate?" In response, the man answered mockingly while swaying his head and smiling: "I'll give you a death certificate immediately, but I would never give you a birth certificate."

These three innocent children remain without recognition within their own homeland. All attempts at registering them have failed. They have been deprived of all due services by a government that is under the obligation to preserve the dignity, the rights to health care, the rights to education and the rights to citizenship to all its citizens as guaranteed by the State's constitution, and all universal treaties and declarations on human rights.