The European Union (EU) must take concrete steps to protect religious
converts beyond its borders, according to a Catholic charity leader.Marc Fromager, national director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) France, was speaking at a conference at the European Parliament on 4 September entitled "EU foreign policy and the protection of converts" hosted by two Dutch MEPs and the European Christian Political Foundation.
He highlighted conversion from Islam to Christianity as especially problematic because such a move is "simply not tolerated in Islam".
Such converts often hid their new faith from friends and family, who rejected them, and, especially outside the EU, they were subjected to violence.
He told the audience of policymakers and civil servants that the EU should take stories of converts' hardship seriously and stop supporting Islamists in countries such as Egypt, where supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood have burnt down churches even since the ousting of their leader, President Mohamed Mursi.
The EU should have spoken out against the Islamists, he said.
Mr Fromager urged the EU to lobby governments in nations with harsh anti-blasphemy legislation to repeal such laws, and fund local groups, such as justice and peace groups, that support victims.