Feb 2019: An Egyptian Canadian citizen disappears in Egypt

There have been many cases of forced disappearances upon arrival to Egypt of Egyptians living abroad with no political activity, who haven't even been in the country for so long. Meanwhile, there is little to no reporting whatsoever in the countries where these people have immigrated, succeeded, and invested their lives and souls in.

The most recent case we came across is about Egyptian Canadian citizen Yasser Ahmed Albaz, an active leader in the Muslim community in Canada. We are sharing this message from his daughter's page, Amal Al Baz, a young woman poet.

https://www.facebook.com/amalahmedalbaz/

URGENT UPDATE ON YASSER AHMED (ALBAZ)
February 22, 2019

"Yasser Ahmed (Albaz) Detained By Egyptian Authorities

On Monday our family was horror-struck when our loved one, Yasser Albaz, disappeared in the Cairo International Airport by Egyptian authorities.

Yasser had traveled to Egypt in December for business purposes. However, while leaving Egypt to return home to Canada, as he was passing through passport control, he was pulled aside. Before losing communication he informed our family that he was pulled aside by passport control as his name was flagged for additional clearance. His last message was to a friend telling him that he was taken by Egypt’s state security.

The case has been reported to Global Affairs Canada and our family is in regular communication with consular authorities.

The Egyptian government denied detaining Yasser for days. It remains unclear why he is being unlawfully detained by Egyptian state security. It remains unknown when or if he will be released. And most critically, there is great concern around the condition of his detention and if he is being treated according to international human rights laws. Our family is gravely concerned for his safety and his life.

We hope our Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chrystia Freeland, will immediately contact the Egyptian government to resolve this matter and bring Yasser home to his wife, children, and grandchildren.

We are grateful to everyone who has reached out and offered support. Yasser is a well respected community leader and Canadian who has dedicated his life to serving his community and his country. 
Our family calls for community members to contact their Member of Parliament, express concern and request that the Minister of Foreign Affairs intervene and ensure his safe return home to Canada."
 
Nosayba Ahmed, an Egyptian woman in the US responded to the post saying: 

This happened to my parents too and they stayed under enforced disappearance for 22 days and now they are detained in different prisons on false charges, they took my sister who was dropping them off too and she stayed for 22 days under #enforceddisappearance too and they released her at 2 AM on the streets and told her to go home after they took her phone, car and money, I hope this doesn't happen to your brother and I'm praying that he is reunited with his family soon, we live a nightmare that we would never imagine happening in our life, my parents were coming to visit their daughters and grandchildren in the US where we live and they have visited many countries before, the sisi regime is criminal!

Mohamed Abdelhafiz: Deported from Turkey to face death

The Egyptian social media has been buzzing with the haunting photo of a young Egyptian man handcuffed and seated on a flight from Turkey as he was being deported to Egypt, a country he had to run away from to safe his life. 

This is Mohamed Abdel Hafiz with his son who was born outside of Egypt and has no documentation because of his father's political history. The wife and son are still stranded in an African country while Mohamed is forcibly disappeared in Egypt since his deportation.

Before he got to Turkey in January 2019, Mohamed had to run away from Egypt into several African and Asian countries (Sudan, Somalia, Malaysia, and others) after he was framed in a political case with hundreds of other innocent young Egyptians.

Turkish authorities deported him back to Egypt while aware of his death sentence and the fact he will be tortured or killed upon returning to Egypt. Mohamed is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and that shouldn't be a crime in itself as Sisi's government claims.
But mass executions in Egypt are a crime, and the Turkish authorities deporting a man whose life and safety are threatened is a crime.

According to the Egyptian state, Mohammed is considered a terrorist who is accused of participating with a hundred others in the assassination of an Egyptian official who received a death sentence in a mass trial along with all other defendants. However, anyone who is following and is aware of the tragic crisis in Egypt since the military coup in 2013 knows that fabricated accusations in unfair trials are far more common than anything otherwise.

it is very important to understand these verdicts in the light of the political atmosphere in Egypt after the military coup and the extremely harsh crackdown on dissent since then.

Mohamed's story is one of a thousand other stories for young Egyptian men victims of the bloody unjust military coup and corrupt judiciary system. On top of that very few countries open their doors to Egyptian runaways as refugees or asylum seekers. 

Abdurrahman Abu Elela maybe deported to Egypt from Turkey

Another victim who may face deportation from Turkey to Egypt soon whom we became acquainted with recently is Abdurrahman Abu Elela, a young Egyptian man who arrived to Turkey several months ago to seek asylum only to be detained inside the Turkish airport in Ankara but was sent to a border immigration prison in the past few days and is currently on a hunger-strike. 

These are just two examples with very limited reporting on Egyptian runaways who are seeking asylum and are being detained and deported instead of being supported.

Their stories are rarely told in other languages so we ask you to help us share them with the rest of the world.