Words aren’t enough, Meriam Ibrahim needs the world to act

It’s been more than four months since then-pregnant mother of two, Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, was first arrested in Sudan for practising her Catholic faith. Several Western countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, have decried her imprisonment. The European Commission, Council and Parliament have also condemned Sudan’s actions, expressing their “deepest dismay and concern with the fate of Mrs Meriam Yahia Ibrahim.” Even Sudan’s Popular Congress Party’s leader, Hassan al-Turabi, has referred to Meriam’s sentencing as “a scandal, extremism and intellectual backwardness.” 

Not even 24 hours after the Khartoum Court of Appeals acquitted Meriam of all charges, recognized her previously annulled marriage to Daniel as legal and ordered hers and her children's release from prison, Meriam, Daniel, Martin and Maya have been detained at an airport in Khartoum. Meriam and her family’s arrest this morning once again affirms the al-Bashir regime’s commitment to the violation, rather than the protection, of human rights and religious freedom and the need for the international community to respond immediately.

The wife of a United States citizen and mother of two American children (one of whom was born in prison), Meriam’s case has drawn mass public attention in and beyond the U.S. Hashtags have swept across social media platforms, petitions have collected more than a million signatures worldwide and human rights and faith-based organisations have lined up to support Meriam’s fight for freedom.

Why, then, has the President of the United States failed to mention Meriam by name? And why does his administration continue to impede her release and safe relocation?

Meriam’s husband, Daniel, pled with the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum for months to recognize his children’s citizenship and ensure his family’s safe evacuation from the country, should Meriam be released. In response, Embassy staff requested a DNA test be administered to determine Daniel’s paternity. While unconfirmed sources now state the U.S. is willing to delay the administration of a DNA test until after Meriam is safely out of the country, for months the State Department deferred to a baseless judgment call.

A lack of strong U.S. leadership has turned its handling of Meriam’s case into an inexcusable debacle. In the cases of Pastors Saeed Abedini and Kenneth Bae, two American citizens who remain imprisoned overseas for their Christian faiths, the Obama administration’s lethargic response could only be considered negligible. While its response to Meriam’s case has been an improvement over its response to those of Pastors Abedini and Bae, the administration has once again chosen to drag its feet in publicly addressing the reprehensible imprisonment of a Christian for their faith, and now she and her entire family have been detained “for national security concerms.”

As International Christian Concern’s Advocacy Director, Isaac Six, said in addressing a crowd at the White House protesting the Obama administration’s failure to speak, “Omar al-Bashir is waiting and watching to see if President Obama will take that next critical step and mention Meriam by name.”

The time for the President of the United States to speak on Meriam’s behalf is now. The time for the State Department to extend its full support to Meriam, Daniel, and their children, is now. The time for the Department of Homeland Security to grant refugee status to Meriam is now. And the time for the general public to continue to pressure their representatives to ensure Meriam’s release and safe relocation is now. 

Cameron Thomas serves as Regional Manager for Africa at International Christian Concern, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide.