Christian converts still face discrimination, arrests in Egypt, US State Dept. confirms

Despite acknowledging improvements in the quality of life for Christians in Egypt under the rule of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, converts to Christianity still face legal and social discrimination as of 2025, the US State Department informed Congress in a report published last week.American estimates suggest that around 10% of Egypt's population were Christian as of 2022, though the exact figures are difficult to gather, as noted by the report, because of difficulties converts face in having their faith recognized on official documentation.In addition to Christian converts facing difficulties in having their chosen faith recognized, the US report warned that Egyptian authorities continued to enforce blasphemy laws, such as Article 98(f) of the penal code, disproportionately against Christians or those expressing minority religious views.Egypt continues detention of anti-Islam Christian convertsHighlighting this is the ongoing detention of Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek, a Christian convert who left Islam and was arrested in July 2025 and held by Egyptian authorities on unknown charges.First arrested in 2023 for allegedly posting videos desecrating the Quran, Abdelrazek fled to Russia after serving a year-long jail sentence in Egypt. Once deported from Russia following a failed asylum claim, he was detained in 2024 and released soon after.In April 2025, he began making social media content about his conversion and legal efforts to change his religious status, and was arrested soon after.Abelrazek appeared before an Egyptian court earlier this week and, according to his social media page now run by his loved ones, will appear before the courts again in September.Last year, Egypt also arrested Christian author Augustine Samaan for charges of “defaming Islam” over online content he made accusing Islam of tolerating child marriage, and discussing the Islamic Prophet Mohammed's marriage to Aisha Bint Abu Bakr in said context.Egypt sees improvement in treatment of ChristiansDespite the arrests and ongoing legal challenges for recognition, the State Department noted several improvements over the past year. Thousands of previously unlicensed churches were approved after submitting their applications, the State Department alleged there were no reports of sectarian violence targeting Christians, and authorities began rebuilding the evangelical church in Minya.Though the report notes efforts were made to increase representation of Christians in the political and social sphere, the State Department reported that Christians remain underrepresented in senior positions across the public sector.As it currently stands, there are only two Christians in Egypt's 31-member cabinet, namely the minister of local development and the minister of parliamentary affairs. Of the 27 appointed governors, only one is Christian. Additionally, there are only 24 Christians in the 300-person senate, 17 of whom were elected and seven appointed.Outside of government roles, Christians are reported to experience significant discrimination when seeking employment. Currently, no Christians are serving as presidents at any of Egypt's 27 universities, and the discrimination is understood to be most significant in fields relating to national security, judiciary positions, or senior civil service roles.