The persecution of Coptic farmers under Swine flu scare campaign
Last week Egyptian riot police clashed with Cairo pig farmers who were trying to protect their herds and to keep them from being taken away for slaughter as part of the nationwide cull that looks suspiciously like religious persecution of the Coptic Christian minority.
It was reported that about 400 residents of the Moqattam slum district of Cairo, where the Coptic Christians raise their pigs, protested the cull by throwing stones at police while other pig farmers called on the Pope Shenouda III to intervene against the injustice. Police in anti-riot gear fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the mostly young demonstrators. Seven policemen were slightly injured along with eight of the demonstrators, according to one medic on the scene.
The protesters believe the authorities are trying to destroy their livelihood, but at a local church a Coptic priest tried to convince them to surrender some of the 60,000 pigs living in the area. The religious leader pointed out that the government had in the past compensated owners of animals culled in response to the threat of mad cow disease and avian flu, so that it would follow that they would compensate them for the livestock to be destroyed. This assertion was not confirmed by the government, however, and there have been conflicting reports in the Egyptian media.
According to the government newspaper al-Ahram, the authorities plan to pay out 100 pounds (about $14) for each male animal slaughtered and 250 pounds (about $35) for each sow. Other officials said that since the farmers would still be allowed to sell the pig meat there would be no cause for compensation. He did not address how the sudden surfeit of pig meat on the market would likely devalue it, and regular pork consumers had been frightened away despite widespread media reports that Swine Flu could not be contracted through the eating of pork.
Over 80% of the Egyptian population is Muslim and live under strict dietary laws that ban the consumption of pork as “unclean”. Therefore the pigs raised in Egypt belong to the Coptic Christian minority. The pigs are reared both by rubbish collectors in Cairo shantytowns who feed the pigs from the rubbish tips to dispose of organic waste and ordinary farmers who feed their stock potatoes and bread. The latter have sought to distance themselves from the slum breeders because their pigs are fed clean food and are subject to spot tests by the Ministry of Health.
Animal rights activists condemned the slaughter of the nation’s 350,000 pigs and believed the decision to cull was taken only because they belong to the Copts. They emphasised the fact that there has not been even one case of Swine Flu in the country and the World Health Organization insists there is no evidence the animals were transmitting Swine Flu to humans. UN Food and Animal experts have also condemned the Egyptian government’s decision to cull the pigs.
