CAIRO — Public diplomacy was the political regime’s weapon in 2014-2016 when Egyptians rallied abroad to assert the popularity of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi when he visited New York, Berlin and Paris, among other European capitals. At the time, the Muslim Brotherhood was trying to show the international community that Sisi’s regime acceded to power in the wake of an illegitimate military coup by spreading rumors about the current regime and rallying against Sisi. Today, Egypt is seemingly capitalizing on promoting public diplomacy through a draft law to unite organizations regulating the affairs of Egyptian expatriates. Minister of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs Nabila Makram proposed the draft law in September.
On Sept. 25, Makram met with Minister of Justice Hussam Abdul Rahim to discuss issuing a law that would regulate and unite Egyptian organizations abroad. Makram lauded the role of Egyptian expatriates and voiced her strong faith in public diplomacy, which she said goes hand in hand with official diplomacy. She also praised the efforts of associations and entities representing Egyptian expatriates to support the state, organize it and focus on the national objectives.
Makram said she would communicate with members of parliament representing Egyptians abroad to get their perspective on organizing the bodies representing expatriates. She underlined the need to benefit from international models regulating the affairs of expats — such as the Moroccan, Sudanese, Mexican and Lebanese models — before submitting to parliament the proposal of the Ministry of Immigration and Expatriate Affairs.
On Sept. 20, Makram said in a press statement, “There are many bodies representing Egyptian expatriates such as the Egyptian clubs abroad, the General Syndicate for Egyptians Working Abroad, the diaspora and the official spokesperson for the Egyptian diaspora. The multitude of expatriate bodies prompted the ministry to call on them to unite to serve the state. The ministry is preparing a draft law to submit to the Cabinet and parliament to organize these bodies.”
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
