Doaa El-Bey attends a seminar on the problems faced by Egyptian expatriates Establishing a support organisation for Egyptian expatriates and improving the role of the Foreign Ministry as well as that of the media overwhelmed discussions during the seminar held this week under the title "Light on the Role of the Foreign Ministry in Caring for Egyptian expatriates". The demand to institutionalise support services for expatriates was voiced by many participants. Journalist Nabil Zaki recalled that the idea was first espoused in a 2005 parliamentary report. "Setting up such an institution is very important. Currently responsibility for Egyptians living abroad is divided between the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Manpower, leaving many people vulnerable. The government should contribute to funding a single body that is legally, constitutionally and morally responsible for caring for Egyptians living abroad." Mustafa El-Feki, head of the People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee, confirmed that the matter would be discussed in the current parliamentary session. New legislation will be required to set up such a body, he said, and its goals must be clear and binding. MP Talaat Metawei suggests the re-formation of a ministry for emigration that could then act as a clearing house between employers overseas with vacancies and trained workers in Egypt. Funding constitutes a major dilemma. Mohamed Menesy, an assistant to the foreign minister, suggested a fee of one or two dollars be paid for consulate services in order to fund any such body. Hani Aziz, counsellor for the General Union for Egyptians Working Abroad, preferred a percentage of the proceeds from entry visa fees be earmarked to fund the project. The role of the Foreign Ministry was thoroughly discussed by Ahmed Rizq, Foreign Ministry assistant for consulates and Egyptian expatriates. He said the ministry had been trying to improve services offered by consulates and embassies abroad by raising the efficiency of employees, providing them with more resources, improving office buildings and appointing legal consultants to offer advice to Egyptians in countries with large numbers of expatriates. The ministry has also established several units to facilitate communication with expatriates. One deals with expatriate complaints and another offers potential migrants advice and information about the country to which they are seeking to travel. A goodwill committee was established to solve problems involving intermarriage. The ministry has also opened an office that deals with victims of piracy and is attempting to extend services by opening regional branches in the provinces. The role of the ministry, said Rizq, is complicated by the number of Egyptian expatriates, estimated at between six and eight million divided almost equally between Arab states and the rest of the world, and the absence of any accurate records of just who is living where. "We are dealing with a wide, growing and intermingling base of expatriates. In order to update records we waived registration fees in the hope that all expatriates will register themselves at the consulate or embassy of the state in which they live," Rizq added. The role of the media was another issue discussed. Zaki focussed on the positive role that Egyptian satellite channels and the international editions of newspapers play in linking expatriates to Egypt. The media could open channels for expatriates to invest their money in Egypt, he said, a move that could boost the Egyptian economy and increase the expatriates' allegiance to his home country. It could also launch campaigns to raise expatriates' awareness of their rights and duties and warn them about accepting jobs beneath their qualification and skills. Zaki defended the media, claiming it was playing a positive role in building confidence between the expatriates and his country by calling on Egyptians to register at the Egyptian embassy of their country of abode. Assem Megahed, a former assistant to the foreign minister, painted a less positive picture of the media than Zaki. Newspapers, he said, often publish inaccurate or incomplete complaints from expatriates painting the Foreign Ministry in a negative light. Given that the number of independent newspapers is on the increase there is far more room for publishing complaints and a greater need for stories that sell. It is a dynamic, he argued, that erodes trust between Egyptian expatriates and the ministry and could make the former more reluctant to register with their embassies. Newspapers tend to generalise, Megahed continued, and journalists seize on individual cases and then turn them into a wide ranging phenomenon. The seminar was organised by the Egyptian Consulting Centre for Migration Studies, the first non-governmental organisation to focus exclusively on migration and expatriation issues.
