Danish-Egyptian HR rep denied entry into Cairo

A project manager from the Danish Institute for Human Rights was denied entry at Cairo airport on Monday.

The Danish Consul went to the airport Monday morning to offer assistance to Ashraf Mikhail, to no avail, as he was reportedly sent back to Copenhagen via Turkey.

“We can confirm that it happened. But we are convinced it is a misunderstanding, and we are currently trying to sort it out. We have no further comment at the moment,” Jacob Basbøll, a member of the press team for the Danish institute told Mada Masr.

State-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported that Mikhail, who arrived in Cairo on a flight from Amsterdam, was deported to Turkey because of his involvement in "suspicious" training sessions for Egyptian young people. 

Basbøll said later that information reported by Egyptian media was wrong, and Mikhail was not deported via Turkey, but instead asked to change a flight. He stated that Mikhail did not want to talk to the press at this moment.

The Danish Institute for Human Rights, under the umbrella of the Danish government, is working in collaboration with the National Council for Human Rights in Egypt, and is seeking to further its partnerships with Egypt’s ministries, public organizations and civil society.

This isn’t the first time in recent months that human rights workers have been denied entry into Egypt. In August, Human Rights Watch officials coming to Cairo to present a report on the violent dispersals of the Rabea al-Adaweya sit-in last year were turned away at the airport.

The refusal to allow some human rights workers into the country comes amid a state crackdown on non-governmental organizations.

Several local and international organizations have, or are planning to, close their Cairo branches following an amendment to the penal code in September legalizing harsher sentences for receiving foreign funding, and the state's ultimatum, giving non-governmental organizations until November 10 to reconcile their legal statuses with Egypt's NGO Law 84 (2002).

Earlier this month, the Carter Center announced the closure of its Egypt offices, citing restrictions to its activities and resources.