Egyptian expats abroad are a significant voter bloc that top presidential candidates are courting, writes Eman Ragab* Two incidents last week threw the spotlight on Egyptian workers abroad. The first is the Ahmed El-Gizawi case that has once again focussed attention on the problems of the approximately 2.5 million Egyptian workers in Saudi Arabia. The second took place in Lebanon where several Egyptian workers were arrested following a clash with Lebanese forces protecting the Egyptian embassy in Beirut and who now face military trial. The question of Egyptian labour abroad was one of those issues that the former regime assiduously ignored, apart from matters affecting remittances to Egypt of course. The 25 January Revolution turned one of its spotlights onto this question in view of the part Egyptians abroad played in supporting the revolution by staging demonstrations and engaging in other activities to promote the demands of Tahrir Square. The question has become increasingly important politically, and not just as a foreign policy concern between Egypt and the country that hosts Egyptian labour. Now that Egyptian expats have the right to vote from abroad, they have become a voting bloc to be courted by any one of the 13 presidential candidates. Although only 586,000 out of the 7-10 million Egyptians abroad have registered to vote in the presidential elections, their vote could be critical, especially in the reruns. Therefore, when discussing the candidates' campaign platforms, it is important to consider how they intend to handle this issue. This applies particularly to Abdel Moneim Abul-Fotouh and Amr Moussa who appear to have the best shot at the president's office according to a poll published by Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies last week. Both candidates appear fully aware of the importance of the expat vote, especially in countries such as Saudi Arabia where 261,820 Egyptians have registered to vote for the presidential elections. Abul-Fotouh has visited Saudi Arabia several times to meet with Egyptians there, even before his nomination. During one such meeting in January 2012 he declared, "The dignity of Egyptians abroad is part of Egypt's dignity." Amr Moussa accompanied former prime minister Essam Sharaf on his tour of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar in mid-2011 and took the opportunity to meet with Egyptian communities in these countries. Both candidates have been keener to comment on the Al-Gizawi case than on the Lebanese incident. Abul-Fotouh has reiterated the position he stated on his Twitter account: "The Ahmed El-Gizawi case is not the question of an individual, it is the question of the dignity of a nation and its citizens. The role of parliament, the foreign ministry and SCAF is to protect Egyptians and their dignity." Moussa took a different tack. As soon as news of El-Gizawi's arrest broke, Moussa immediately contacted the Saudi foreign minister to learn the details and keep tabs on the situation. In his statements, he has taken pains to draw a line between the El-Gizawi case and Egyptian-Saudi relations. He has said, for example, "As important as the El-Gizawi case is, we should not allow some people to exploit it and turn it to the advantage of their own personal ends, especially under the conditions of the extremely difficult Egyptian climate which is fraught with tension and uncertainty." The platforms of both candidates address the concerns of Egyptian workers abroad who have three chief grievances. The first regards the employee sponsorship system followed in some Gulf countries and in Lebanon, for example. It is routine practice in these countries for employers to confiscate the passports of the workers they bring into the country. In addition, they commonly deny workers the right to bring over members of their families. Egyptian workers in Lebanon also complain that they are forced to pay the full amount of the social security tax, which comes to 15 per cent of their salaries, while under Lebanese law the employee is only obliged to pay two per cent of the amount. Moreover, there is no guarantee that they will ever recuperate the amount deducted from their salaries in the form of an end-of-service payment when they leave Lebanon. Although neither Abul-Fotouh or Moussa addressed these grievances specifically, Moussa's platform pledges to address the "problems" of Egyptian citizens in the Gulf states, which, he says, may be worse than the problems that Egyptian expatriates face in other Arab countries or in the West. Although he has not mentioned a mechanism for solving these problems, he did say that the way Egyptian embassies handle them should be one of the criteria in the annual evaluation of ambassadors. He explained that such a step is important because a significant portion of the problems that Egyptian workers face broad is due to their embassies' refusal to cooperate with them, which places the workers at an even greater disadvantage with respect to their sponsors. It is worth mentioning here that the Egyptian government has already taken steps to remedy the problem. The Egyptian Ministry of Labour has signed agreements with its counterparts in other countries whereby governments, rather than employers, would act as guarantors of the employees. The Egyptian government has also recently proposed the idea of creating a joint body for this purpose. The second grievance -- touched on above -- is that Egyptian embassies, especially those in the Gulf, do very little to help Egyptian communities abroad. For example, they generally do not facilitate the procedures for obtaining a military service exemption, for settling citizens' draft status when they reach 30, or for obtaining a national identity card. This may help explain why there are no accurate figures for the number of Egyptian workers abroad. Moussa's abovementioned proposal to include the way embassies abroad respond to the concerns of Egyptian expatriates in annual assessment processes for ambassadors demonstrates his awareness of this problem. Abul-Fotouh, for has part, has a more comprehensive vision for addressing it. He has called for a census of Egyptians abroad, support for their right to form associations that express their concerns, and boosting the performance of diplomatic missions in a manner that ensures that they genuinely "serve the people" and protect their dignity. Another aspect of the foregoing problem applies in particular to embassies in European countries that do nothing to help develop the sense of Egyptian affiliation among second and third generations of Egyptian immigrants in those countries. Moussa's platform does draw attention to this concern and proposes developing an economic interest that would create a tangible bond between them and Egypt. It suggests allocating a sizeable chunk of land, of 40-50,000 acres and worth $14-15 billion, for sale to Egyptians abroad. The proposal is not that different from a policy that the current government is pursuing. It has submitted a bill to the People's Assembly that seeks to finance the budget deficit through the sale of residential land to Egyptians residing abroad and through the sale of bank certificates in US dollar denominations. The bill's chief hurdle is the confidence crisis between parliament and the current government. The third problem is the lack of support and protection for Egyptian workers in case they have any troubles abroad. Neither Abul-Fotouh's or Moussa's platforms specifically address this concern, although there have been calls to create a help fund for Egyptians abroad. The fund would provide essential services as well as advice from businessmen. Concern for Egyptian workers abroad remains limited and is mostly interested in how to channel their remittances into investments. It also appears that the attention devoted to them will be short-lived. Neither Moussa nor Abul-Fotouh's campaign platforms made any mention of expanding Egyptian expatriates' political rights by, for example, ensuring they are represented in the commission charged with drafting the constitution or guaranteeing their right to vote in the future by enabling their registration on the basis of passport number instead of national ID number. The requirement to present a national ID card is a major impediment to their right to participate in the forthcoming presidential elections. * The writer is a researcher at the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.
