FairSquare has joined 19 Egyptian and international human rights organisations in condemning the Egyptian government’s unprecedented use of its diplomatic missions as tools of transnational repression.
A leaked recording of Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty last month revealed shocking instructions to embassy staff to “grab [protestors], tie them up, drag them inside, and make their lives hell.” This directive, which fundamentally undermines the principles of international diplomatic law, has already translated into violence against peaceful protesters. Alarming incidents have taken place in The Hague, New York, and London, where Egyptian diplomatic staff and pro-regime loyalists have assaulted, detained, or intimidated protesters, while Egyptian security forces simultaneously targeted the families of exiled journalists inside Egypt.
In London, Egyptian authorities have relied not only on embassy staff but also on pro-government loyalists to target demonstrators. During a protest outside the Egyptian Embassy, Ahmed Abdelkader (sometimes known as “Mido”), head of the Egyptian Youth Union Abroad (EYUA), and his deputy, Ahmed Nasser, confronted activists in a heated altercation that ended with both men being arrested by British police. Anas Habib, an Egyptian activist normally based in the Netherlands who made the complaint to the police, said Abdelkader had been making threats against him and was brandishing a “folded knife”. In 2022, Egyptian journalist Basma Mostafa reported being assaulted outside the Egyptian embassy in Berlin by the same individual.
Pro-government media in Egypt subsequently portrayed Abdelkader as a “hero defending his country,” despite his well-documented role in inciting violence against dissidents abroad. The Egyptian Foreign Minister raised Abdelkader’s case with the British National Security Adviser and “instructed the Egyptian embassy to contact the relevant UK authorities “to clarify the circumstances and reasons for the Egyptian citizen’s arrest.. and work to ensure his speedy release”.
The 20 organisations are raising the alarm about the escalation of transnational repression practices by Egypt:
“These incidents signify a dangerous transformation in Egypt’s global crackdown on dissent. While Egypt has long engaged in transnational repression—through intimidation and harassment, surveillance, smear campaigns, politically motivated extraditions, and arrests of family members—this represents a new and alarming phase”.
The statement’s signatories are calling on the governments of the Netherlands, United States, and United Kingdom to open independent investigations into these incidents and to hold those responsible to account, including by declaring offending diplomats persona non grata where necessary. They also urge UN and other international bodies to scrutinise Egypt’s misuse of diplomatic immunity and to issue urgent communications on this alarming practice.
Earlier this year, FairSquare provided written and verbal evidence to the Joint Human Rights Committee of the UK parliament with regard to practices of transnational repression (TNR) by the Egyptian state. The committee’s final report, published in July 2025, noted that, “our inquiry received evidence alleging that many states had conducted TNR activities on UK soil. Multiple evidence submissions accused Bahrain, China, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates of perpetrating TNR in the UK.”
