According to Mina Thabet, founder of the People’s Initiative Party, cases of Coptic abduction and ransoming against huge sums of money are on the rise in the Minya Governorate of Upper Egypt—proving to be a lucrative “business” for “thugs and terrorists” of the Islamic persuasion in an area that is “at an all-time low and ridden with corruption.”Thabet says that since January 25 2011, the date of Egypt’s original “Arab Spring,” these kidnappings have cost the Copts over 120 million Egyptian pounds.
The human rights activist enumerated Coptic abduction cases in Minya, including the last one—a civil servant and father of three, whose family had failed to come up with the asked ransom.
According to Thabet, “incomprehensible laxity” concerning the safety of Coptic minorities prevails, making them vulnerable to profit-making kidnappings.
