Several weeks after two young German Egyptians disappeared on a family visit, it is revealed that at least one of them could be held in custody by the Egyptian authorities. This information was received by the German Embassy in Cairo, the Foreign Office said.
The man is a 23-year-old student from Göttingen who, together with his older brother, wanted to see the Egyptian grandparents again. He was said to have been taken away on 27 December on his arrival in Cairo after passport control by officials. His brother was allowed to enter; He has since left Egypt.
About the second missing, an 18-year-old high school student from Gießen, there is still little information. He wanted to visit his grandfather in Cairo. He was allegedly arrested on 17 December when he transferred to Luxor. Since then he is no longer reachable, his cell phone is switched off. Friends of the family want to have seen him in Luxor in custody of the security forces.
„The Foreign Office takes the two processes very seriously,“ it said from Berlin. The German Embassy in Cairo is in contact with the relevant authorities and relatives and is seeking clarification. The families, who do not know each other, received no information for weeks. „All attempts to make contact, were so far in vain,“ said the mother of the 23-year-old of the German Press Agency. Similar expressed the father of the 18-year-olds.
Egypt does not see Germany responsible
It is currently unclear why the young men have disappeared and, if they are actually in state custody, what they are being charged with. The men grew up in Germany and have not been to Egypt for a long time. Their mothers are Germans, their fathers Egyptians, who live in Germany for decades. The families have reported missing persons in Germany.
Due to the family constellations, the negotiations are legally difficult: The consular protection of the German Embassy does not work for the two men as it does for people who only have German citizenship. Egypt considers foreigners with Egyptian families as Egyptians. According to the government in Cairo, German diplomacy is therefore not competent.
Already in the past few months border guards had denied entry to several Egyptians with a German passport. However, unlike the two recent cases, those affected were detained overnight in a police cell at Cairo airport and forced to fly back to Germany the next morning
