Morocco is situated at the top of the African continent close to Europe. It has both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines, and a rugged mountainous interior. Culturally it has a rich culture developed from Arab, Berber, European, and African influences.
The population of about 33 million is predominantly a mixture of Arab and Berber. While Arabic is the official language and over 99% of the population is Sunni Muslim, the remaining 1% are Christian or Jewish. There are an estimated 25,000 foreign Christians living in Morocco including Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, French Protestant and Anglican Church members, with Catholics being the most numerous.
In the past there has been little obvious persecution of Christians by the government. However, things have recently changed. It has been reported that since early March this year the government has been campaigning against the Christians in Morocco. One instance was by the expelling of about 45 expatriate Christians, or not allowing them to return from abroad. This was not directed at any particular ethnic group or nationality, as it included Americans, Europeans, New Zealanders, Africans and Asians.
They were apparently expelled for ‘proselytising’, which is in violation of Moroccan law. While all of them admitted to having conversations about religion with Moroccans, they denied they were guilty of proselytism as defined by the Moroccan Penal Code Article 220 which cites “the use of seduction” to convert Muslims to another religion. None who have been expelled have been charged before a court nor been given any access to legal counsel. They were simply escorted to the border and expelled. But according to Moroccan law if someone has had legal residency for more than 10 years he or she cannot be expelled without a court order.
According to witnesses in Morocco, many of those expelled were from the “Village of Hope”, an orphanage that opened 11 years ago housing more than 30 Moroccan children in a family setting. The orphanage had a strict policy of not proselytising. Every staff member and every visitor had to sign a pledge ‘not to defame the king of Morocco, not to defame the religion of Islam and not to engage in proselytism’. It was known clearly to the government that Christians would run the orphanage when it was issued all the required legal papers.
Large numbers of local people from the village came to the orphanage to protest the expulsions of the foreign staff. Fearing that local villagers could be harmed if things got out of control the staff decided to obey the expulsion order. Other sources state that in the same week the government started a campaign against other Moroccan Christians with people being called in for questioning all over the country and being detained for up to 24 hours. One church leader said the pressure on the indigenous Moroccan church had not been this great in the last 25 years, and could offer no reason for it happening now.
Please note that the Moroccan church has specifically asked not be mentioned in any appeals made to the Moroccan authorities, but they are in dire need of our awareness of their plight and our ongoing prayers for Christians in Morocco and all Islamic countries to have the freedom to practice their religion, to be treated as full citizens under the law and to live in peace with their neighbours.