Cairo: Europe and the Arabs
The Ministry of Immigration and Foreigners Affairs said in a statement that the world has witnessed, during the recent period, more global crises, armed conflicts, and man-made disasters, in addition to natural crises resulting from the phenomenon of climate change and leading to more earthquakes and hurricanes, which led to the intervention of the Ministry of Immigration out of concern for the lives of children. Homeland abroad includes those residing in countries suffering from these phenomena, an affirmation of the state’s strength and its concern for its children and their lives. The following crises were dealt with:
1 Sudanese crisis:
From the first moment of the outbreak of the armed conflict in Sudan, the Ministry of Immigration accelerated the activation of the Ministry’s operations room to deal with the situation and follow up on the conditions of Egyptians on the ground, as there was sustained communication from the first moment and during the holiday period with students and community figures directly according to the database registered with The Ministry is trying to protect students under bombardment and is dealing immediately with counting the numbers of Egyptians in Sudan, especially students and families, to determine their whereabouts in preparation for evacuation and to try and support the provision of their basic needs for life during war conditions. The Medici Center for Youth Studying Abroad played an important role, through our students, the center’s ambassadors, and families, on the one hand; On the other hand, through sustained communication with our embassy in Khartoum and the Egyptian Consulate in Wadi Halfa.
The Ministry played the role of a sustainable link between citizens on the ground and the National Crisis Cell, which was formed at the level of the state and its institutions (Defence, Foreign Affairs, Interior, Security Services, Health, Solidarity, Transport, Red Crescent and others), where each ministry and institution State institutions play their role in returning the members of the Egyptian community in Sudan safely, in distinguished harmony among themselves, despite the harsh conditions of the war, as more than 10 thousand Egyptians were rescued, most of them male and female students in Sudan - where the Egyptian community in Sudan is the largest in number - as well. Helping many foreigners to evacuate.
Rescue efforts began by preparing an electronic form for Egyptian students in Sudan through the Ministry of Immigration’s Center for Dialogue for Egyptian Youth Abroad, and distributing it to everyone who managed the blog. In approximately two days, more than 6,000 students were registered with all the details of their actual whereabouts and contact information to start with a cell. The crisis in preparing evacuation means through air, land and sea bridges according to the conflict’s data and after contacting all parties to ensure the safety of the children and the most appropriate methods and timings that would preserve their lives, as a report on the situation was prepared and comprehensive research and evaluation were considered to study the details of an urgent evacuation plan according to the situation and developments. Objectively and quickly.
To ensure speedy communication with all Egyptian communities, electronic groups have been prepared for speedy communication via telephone communication programmes, to direct Egyptian communities in various areas to evacuate safely and to address any challenges they face on the way and deal with them immediately. The evacuation took place via a number of air bridges via Egyptian military aircraft, by land via more land buses, and by sea via Sudanese ports.
The Minister of Immigration and members of the Ministry have continued to communicate with the Egyptian community and students until now, through social media groups and WhatsApp groups, to inform them of developments and the numbers of the Egyptian embassy and consulate, and to add community symbols to support and assist students there by announcing the locations of services and medicines, as well as advice from the Egyptian Red Crescent Society. Which is being coordinated for the medical evacuation of a number of injured people, and which has published a campaign under the name “Supporting the Safety of Our Children in Sudan,” which includes contact numbers and important instructions to help citizens during periods of emergency and during the evacuation trip, and these instructions are published on the official ministry pages.
In connection with all of the above, dozens of virtual meetings were held via “video conference” with hundreds of Egyptian students in Sudan and many parents around the world, to listen to them and check on their conditions, in light of the state of turmoil that the brotherly country is experiencing, and to arrange with them all matters related to evacuation and studying. After returning.
  In parallel with this move, the Minister called for an urgent meeting of the National Committee for Students Studying Abroad to discuss developments in the situation of our children in Sudan and learn about their post-crisis needs. Ambassador Soha Gendi also chaired an urgent meeting of the “Permanent National Committee for Follow-up of Egyptian Students Abroad” to discuss finding ways and mechanisms for dealing. With the crisis of Egyptian university students returning from Sudan, following the clashes that broke out there.
It should be noted that these collective efforts by the state have resulted in the safe return of more than ten thousand students and Egyptian citizens of all age groups from Sudan, and the efforts of the Ministry of Immigration, in cooperation with various institutions, succeeded in returning a son and daughter who were injured as a result of military operations. They are the only two cases whose infection was detected from the Egyptian community, and the Ministry is still following up on their cases. The daughter was discharged from the hospital and the son was still in the treatment phase, while the Ministry recorded the death of one son (a diabetic patient) as a result of a lack of insulin, which his colleagues were unable to provide due to the bombing.
The Ministry of Immigration did not neglect to provide support to the injured among our sons and reassure them that the two injured students would be transported at the first opportunity on evacuation planes from Port Sudan, where the two students were seriously injured as a result of the events as a result of shell fragments. They are “May Awad,” who was injured by scattered fragments in the foot, and “Mahmoud.” Atef was injured by scattered shrapnel in the back.Indeed, the two arrived in Cairo to complete the necessary operations in hospitals in the Arab Republic of Egypt. Communication and coordination were also made with the “Egyptian Red Crescent” to receive the students who arrived home on Friday, April 28, and they were directed to places of treatment. The Minister of Immigration was keen to follow up herself with the medical teams until now.
  After that, the work of the permanent committee began, which is headed by the Ministry of Immigration, commissioned by the President of the Republic and with the membership of representatives of the relevant ministries, led by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education, and various agencies and institutions to integrate returning students into the Egyptian education system, out of concern for their future, which required many exceptional measures from the government and amendments. In the executive regulations and decisions issued by the Supreme Council of Universities and the Ministry of Higher Education in cooperation with private and private universities, which have absorbed more cases, and that committee is still working until now and dealing with all the problems we face with student cases so far, especially as they are related to paperwork complications with universities. Sudanese, many of which are not recognized. It is also worth noting that some students who were months away from their graduation and others who were not able to travel were misled that some universities were in safe places, only to return again and military operations erupted. They resort to migration again to repeat the situation.
2/3 * The Russian-Ukrainian crisis:
The Ministry of Immigration was keen to follow up on our children in Ukraine - who chose to remain in the period after the outbreak of the conflict, and they are not many, as most of the Egyptian children were evacuated through the European border countries - throughout the period of the conflict and until now on a regular and regular basis. To deal with any challenges they face, the Minister still holds periodic meetings with leaders and members of the Egyptian community in Ukraine, and many Egyptian students studying in Ukraine, whether they are returning to Egypt or still facing some complications despite the Ministry of Immigration’s success in enrolling them in Egyptian universities, as well as many Representatives of the Ministry of Immigration Center for Dialogue, via the Zoom application, to discuss their problems and work to discuss the best solutions, in cooperation with the Egyptian embassies in Kiev and Moscow and the cultural office accredited to the two embassies and in coordination with the relevant authorities, as the meetings addressed a number of problems that still face students studying in Ukraine. And Russia, represented by the difficulty of withdrawing papers from Ukrainian universities, and this came within the framework of the efforts of the Egyptian state to succeed in returning about 1,270 students via an air bridge, and to deal directly with reconciling their academic conditions, and solving their problems regarding applying to Egyptian universities and integrating them into private and private universities in accordance with the required requirements. .
Continuing efforts around the clock to follow up on the problems and suggestions of Egyptians abroad. In light of this, the national committee responsible for following up on students returning from conflict areas, which was formed by a decision of the Prime Minister and headed by the Ministry of Immigration, continued its work to take all facilitative and exceptional measures to facilitate procedures for members of Egyptian communities, including students. Returnees from conflict areas.
4/5* The devastating earthquake in Türkiye and Syria:
Immediately upon learning of the outbreak of the earthquake in both Turkey and Syria, the Ministry of Immigration was keen to collect all information about its communities in the two countries through the database of the Ministry of Immigration and the database of the Medesi Center for Young Students, where it contacted the center’s student ambassadors to explore the situation on the ground, and also contacted the Ministry of Immigration. The Foreign Ministry and our embassies in the two countries to clarify the losses and whether or not they affected any of the Egyptians. The students are Medici Center ambassadors who are most capable of communicating with their colleagues and responding to calls for help. Many children suffered from the loss of their homes during the earthquake, and some of them hid under the rubble for some time until they were rescued. The Ministry followed up on matters until it settled on its conscience that everyone was fine except for one Egyptian family who lost her life under the rubble. While everyone was helped to find safe haven away from the scope of the earthquake in Turkey. It has about 5,000 Egyptian students studying there and some Egyptian merchants and residents there, while the matter was easier and less dangerous in Syria, where I became convinced that the Egyptians there were safe and far from the scope of the earthquake, and that their numbers were not so large as to raise concerns.
6/7* Hurricane Daniel in Morocco and Libya:
The Ministry of Immigration followed the developments of the situation regarding the earthquake that struck Morocco, as it quickly convened an operations room around the clock after communicating with leaders of the communities and our embassy in Morocco, creating a database and learning about the situation on the ground to check on the conditions of the Egyptian community there. The Moroccan situation did not record any reports about Egyptian victims or injured, and the community’s conditions were good and stable, taking into account that they reside almost entirely, far from the epicenter of the hurricane.
7* The situation in Libya:
Although the situation was completely reassuring in Morocco for our people, the exact opposite happened in Libya, where Hurricane Daniel struck one of the hotspots of Egyptian presence in Libya, and part of the community was among illegal immigrants of a number of nationalities, including Egyptians. This led to the Ministry of Immigration convening an operations room in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in addition to opening a direct line of communication with the Council of Ministers, where all these paths converged to form a joint action unit to respond to any reports, calls for help, or inquiries from the families of Egyptians who were present in Libya at the time of Storm Daniel. And the floods it caused, to ensure coordination at the highest levels between government institutions in dealing with the crisis and saving the largest possible number of Egyptians whose bad luck led them to be in the epicenter of the hurricane, especially since a storm resulting from Hurricane “Daniel” swept several areas in eastern Libya, most notably the cities of Derna.Benghazi, Al-Bayda, Al-Marj and Sousse, leaving thousands of victims and missing people. Egypt is almost the only country whose armed forces were able to go immediately with the beginning of the hurricane outbreak in Libya in an attempt to rescue any of the survivors of this humanitarian disaster. However, the bad conditions and the occurrence of the epicenter of the hurricane between two mountains were a trap for those in the region, as Egyptian planes returned The military recovered 87 bodies of Egyptian citizens who died in Libya as a result of Hurricane Daniel, after their bodies were recovered from the sea in cooperation with the Libyan authorities who identified their passports. Where military aircraft headed with the bodies to the birthplace of the sons of Egypt who died in Libya. Out of respect for the pledge that the state made to return its children to its embrace and pure land.
8* The war in Gaza:
Although the various conflicts have been characterized by violence and intensity, the situation in Gaza is considered the most complex of all, as military actions directed against the people of Gaza have erupted since October 7, 2023, and since then the entire Egyptian state, with all its institutions, has been trying to support the people of Gaza in the deteriorating humanitarian situation they are suffering from. , including through its international, national and bilateral contacts with the parties to the conflict, trying to resolve it by all means, to save the people of Gaza and the ominous fate they face as a result of Israeli intransigence. It also organized the entry of humanitarian aid from all parties through the Rafah crossing, despite it being a crossing for individuals and not a crossing for goods. If the state is trying with all its might to resolve the conflict in order to alleviate the burden on our people in Gaza; Double priority was given to the Egyptians in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and coordination was made with the relevant authorities to evacuate dozens of Egyptians stranded in the Strip.
Here, we cannot fail to point out one of the examples of cooperation in rescuing Egyptians stranded in Gaza and Jerusalem. The Ministry of Immigration wrote an epic of cooperation with our embassy, with the exit of 30 Egyptians with Canadian citizenship who performed religious rituals in Jerusalem. They had to leave, but the military bombing began. They tried to contact the Canadian embassy in Tel Aviv to rescue them, which was unable to offer them anything, except that the Ministry of Immigration, in cooperation with the Egyptian embassy, took further measures to save their lives, and they returned safely to Egypt, and from there weeks later to Canada to sing of their strength and greatness. The Egyptian state does not tolerate the rights and lives of its people, no matter what happens, and under any circumstances.
9* Individual events and crises:
The conditions of our communities during this year have suffered greatly as a result of the human, humanitarian and natural disasters they have witnessed and armed conflicts in various parts of the world, making them one of the most complex files of the Ministry of Immigration and the most closely linked to the interests of Egyptians and preserving their lives.
  The attention to these collective crises did not diminish the attention and support provided to the individual cases of Egyptians from the Ministry of Immigration, in any and all countries around the world. If any Egyptian is exposed to individual crises and disasters, the Ministry of Immigration is always ready to move and help any Egyptian in need of his country’s support. It always intervenes through its presence and is in direct communication with all Egyptians on all forms of social media and through the presence of the Minister. And members of the Ministry on various social media platforms, and through the various Ministry of Immigration centers, and always cooperates in this with leaders of Egyptian communities, embassies and consulates abroad.
Its role in the crisis of the young man Ahmed, who fell ill in Mozambique and almost lost his life had it not been for the Ministry of Immigration’s efficient management of the crisis to save his life, a crisis that all Egyptian institutions abroad participated in resolving (3 embassies - EgyptAir - the Coptic Church - and the Coptic Hospital in Kenya). -The Ministry of Health, the Red Crescent) and other friends and family of Ahmed, which is confirmation that the state cares about every one of its children, no matter how young or old, which led to saving his life from an incurable disease that he suffered there as a result of his infection with typhoid and the inability of the doctors there to treat him and his passing for about 6 years. Unsuccessful surgeries.
The complaints mechanism created by the Ministry of Immigration and its watchful eyes throughout the day through all community groups on the Internet also listen to various forms of calls for help, through which it saved many cases of kidnapping and accidents during Hajj, or disputes with employers, or facing psychological or health crises for Egyptians. Or the sinking of ships carrying Egyptians, or Egyptian sailors facing a bad relationship with the company they work on board, and many, many more that are difficult to enumerate. However, the message behind it is the same: Egypt, this strong country, cares and is capable of standing behind any of its sons, supporting them and saving them in the most catastrophic crises in any location and the most remote place on the face of the Earth. Salute to the country that loves every one of its sons, and long live Egypt.