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NGO warns of growing genocide threat

A Swiss-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) has told Western politicians that religious minorities in the Middle East face life-threatening conditions.

This content was published on November 30, 2011 - 11:10

1 minute

swissinfo.ch and agencies

Christian Solidarity International (CSI) wrote to Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, United States President Barack Obama and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, urging them to bear religious minorities in mind when assessing the Arab Spring.

CSI, which pushes for freedom of religion and human rights, called on Obama to make the increasing problem of genocide an issue in his State of the Union address in January.

The organisation said several million lives and the future of religious pluralism in the Middle East were at stake.

CSI demanded the UN secretary-general announce a genocide warning and take preventative measures. It also called for subsidies for the democratisation process and a ban on aid money for organisations which practise religious discrimination.

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