Egypt Current Situation ??
Last activity 12 March 2011 by leprechaun1188
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Hey Guys
I left for UAE right after the unrest started. Just wanted to know how is the current situation?? Foreigners started coming back ? Banks are open ?
Thanks
all is good. it is okay now. you can come back and do not be afraid.
Hi, Banks are open, situation is getting better slowly, still unsecure but we are living !
Yea Im wondering the same thing...I was supposed to move back to Egypt end of April but my husband says he really doesn't think it will be safe enough for me until after the elections in September,and that maybe I should just wait for him in the US until he gets his green card...of course safety is first but this is devastating news to have to wait here without my husband..until who knows when
Hi. I came back on Friday and things seem fine to me, though I've been told there are still sporadic protests around Tahrir, especially after prayers on Friday. And though it can't be said that it's business as usual 100% that's to be expected through this transition period. But overall, it's been fine and all my Egyptian friends and colleagues are great, positive and hopeful for the future. A curfew between 12am - 6am remains in place though. AS well, it's hard to say whether an election will be called for September since it takes time to build a new system and to ensure the institutional amendments have been made to ensure open and fair elections. Anyways, good luck.
I stayed put through the whole thing.
In my opinion, Tahrir Sq should be the least of your concerns right now, since protesters are and always were peaceful.
Banks are open, no problem there but they are reluctant to change LE into any foreign currency. Stock exchange was meant to reopen tomorrow, now postponed until Sunday at the earliest.
Huge concern at the moment is the lack of police presence. Apart from traffic police you will probably not see anyone in uniform, at least in Cairo. You'll remember cops went AWOL on Friday 28th after the army rolled the tanks out. That same night thousands of prisoners were let out and are currently roaming the roads, especially desert roads Cairo-Alex and Suez Rd. Many reports of very unpleasant incidents coming through.
So, IMO, unless you have a job you MUST come back to, stay away until after things settle down. The situation is very uncertain at the moment. It's not over yet!
Hi Aykalam,
I've actually read on here a few reports about the prisoners that were released. Can you elaborate a bit more about what you've heard re: 'unpleasant incidents'? I've not heard anything and have had many people asking me who want to visit. Thanks.
J.
Stumble_On wrote:Hi Aykalam,
I've actually read on here a few reports about the prisoners that were released. Can you elaborate a bit more about what you've heard re: 'unpleasant incidents'? I've not heard anything and have had many people asking me who want to visit. Thanks.
J.
Carjackings, kidnapings, private school buses stopped by armed thugs demanding cash, mobiles, etc. On the Cairo-Alex Rd they are throwing eggs on to passing vehicles to try and make them stop, then rob the drivers. All of the above not rumours, they are confirmed incidents.
if you want to know more about the prison breaches just google "egyptian prisoners escape"
Asalamu Alaykom,
Schools are not open in all areas yet. The problem is not the schools themselves but the roads. The buses have not be OK'd to transport children since there is not a police presence.
There was an incident last week of an armed off-duty police officer getting into an altercation with a micro bus driver. Both went to hospital---driver from being shot and policeman from the crowd beating him up.
I heard today from a lady who came from near 6th of October and was almost robbed by a gang. The trick is, she told, to have three men stationed at nearby intervals along the road. The first one in the road slows you down, and the second one even more and then by the third, they can attack the car. She realized after the second man in the road what was going on and sped up and quickly got out of the area.
The "chaos switch" as I think of it, could be flipped at any time. Things are still very fresh.
Everyone should be prepared to spend days at home with the supplies and money they have on hand. No one should be letting their resources get too low.
Everyone should know cell phones AND land lines for others and keep in touch when you hear news.
Should visitors come? Adventuresome travelers, sure. I saw four tourist buses in the Al-Haram area today so it's slowly starting up---with Asian tourists, by the looks of it.
Should people wait until September? To do what? Wait until Egpyt is completely normal? LOL! Egypt is a very unique place and normal is not what I was looking for when I moved here.
I saw some young people hanging up paper with this written on it " Dear Tourists Don't Leave WE WILL PROTECT YOU "
I think Egypt is very Unique as u said "After Hardship" "Thanks" always be near and close to normal people or your friends
we have foreign friends didn't cancel their flights and there r in Egypt now for TOURISM
Amiligy wrote:Hi, Banks are open, situation is getting better slowly, still unsecure but we are living !
Everything is going to be stable smoothly "like any country after revolutions "
I think U all will get surprised by People and car drivers attitude
Do u believe that road accidents is less now with a noticeable amount
SO UNIQUE EGYPTIANS
LOL ..Egyptian finally get driving sense ..this is for sure a new change after revolution. Hope to see the same secure stable Egypt again
mero928 wrote:Amiligy wrote:Hi, Banks are open, situation is getting better slowly, still unsecure but we are living !
Everything is going to be stable smoothly "like any country after revolutions "
I think U all will get surprised by People and car drivers attitude
Do u believe that road accidents is less now with a noticeable amount
SO UNIQUE EGYPTIANS
alimirza wrote:LOL ..Egyptian finally get driving sense ..this is for sure a new change after revolution. Hope to see the same secure stable Egypt again
mero928 wrote:Amiligy wrote:Hi, Banks are open, situation is getting better slowly, still unsecure but we are living !
Everything is going to be stable smoothly "like any country after revolutions "
I think U all will get surprised by People and car drivers attitude
Do u believe that road accidents is less now with a noticeable amount
SO UNIQUE EGYPTIANS
Dear friend, u will get shocked
every country on earth has thugs and criminal elements.for far to long this was one of Egypt's issues which was kept from the public by those which controlled the old state run media sources its not a new issue.
I feel pretty secure here ,but a person should always use good judgment when they come upon a situation where very large crowds are gathering.
some countries are now bringing back the people they shipped out when this all started this should be taken as a solid expectation by those other governments for the stable future of Egypt and its free peoples.
The situation seems to worsen for the last few days.Hopefully the police will get back to duty as soon as possible.
Wild wrote:The situation seems to worsen for the last few days.Hopefully the police will get back to duty as soon as possible.
I agree. For the last two nights the men in my area have been guarding the part of the corniche that leads into Manial/El-Malek El Saleh due to recent robberies (or so I've been told), and there was an army tank in the area too.
My advice is to remain vigilant and aware that the current situation has led to many 'opportunities' for crime.
Stay safe, everyone.
...I am way too much confused now .. Im flying back on 9th march.
I thought that after president left things will be stable but I do not know what else people want...things are only getting worst and worst...
Are there still robberies happening ? no wonder if there is no police this will happen.
I do not think Egypt is a safe place to live any more till the crowd is stable. Hope to see safe Egypt again soon
alimirza wrote:...I am way too much confused now .. Im flying back on 9th march.
I thought that after president left things will be stable but I do not know what else people want...things are only getting worst and worst...
Are there still robberies happening ? no wonder if there is no police this will happen.
I do not think Egypt is a safe place to live any more till the crowd is stable. Hope to see safe Egypt again soon
I don't mean to be a scare monger, but it must be noted that there are definitely small pockets of crime, although they seem to be sporadic from what I've been told. Having said that, I still feel safer here in Egypt than I did in London at night. Egyptians are doing what very few people in London would do: actively protecting one another and looking out for one another. That's a beautiful thing.
Do you work in Egypt?
Yep I do. and ever since situation became worst I left for Dubai for some time..now returning back tomorrow. Happy but a little confused. anyways fingers crossed hope to see a new change and above all secured Egypt
During day in Cairo it is relativelly safe, but avoid the night on the streets, especially during curfew. Seems that more things are happening in the delta, where the baltagheea(i dont know the exacte translation from arabic of this word) keeps on robbing the farmers and taking over the land. Who dares to stop them, gets killed. Same thing in the desert area, where the bedouins reclaims the land that was taken 50 years ago or so from them.
Wild wrote:During day in Cairo it is relativelly safe, but avoid the night on the streets, especially during curfew. Seems that more things are happening in the delta, where the baltagheea(i dont know the exacte translation from arabic of this word) keeps on robbing the farmers and taking over the land. Who dares to stop them, gets killed. Same thing in the desert area, where the bedouins reclaims the land that was taken 50 years ago or so from them.
it is the time for Rumors and only 10-15 percent of these rumors are true, but the rumors are so widely spread.
Since 2 days I saw cops r returned to be in streets till the curfew times in most of main streets and in nile Bank street (cournich el nile). BTW, they r so nice people now and u can ask him for anything like address or to protect u if u felt unsafe and they do their best as far as I see
mero928 wrote:Wild wrote:During day in Cairo it is relativelly safe, but avoid the night on the streets, especially during curfew. Seems that more things are happening in the delta, where the baltagheea(i dont know the exacte translation from arabic of this word) keeps on robbing the farmers and taking over the land. Who dares to stop them, gets killed. Same thing in the desert area, where the bedouins reclaims the land that was taken 50 years ago or so from them.
it is the time for Rumors and only 10-15 percent of these rumors are true, but the rumors are so widely spread.
Since 2 days I saw cops r returned to be in streets till the curfew times in most of main streets and in nile Bank street (cournich el nile). BTW, they r so nice people now and u can ask him for anything like address or to protect u if u felt unsafe and they do their best as far as I see
It could be some rumors, but my husband have some land in the delta, so i know for sure.
Eypicanmeraty wrote:Yea Im wondering the same thing...I was supposed to move back to Egypt end of April but my husband says he really doesn't think it will be safe enough for me until after the elections in September,and that maybe I should just wait for him in the US until he gets his green card...of course safety is first but this is devastating news to have to wait here without my husband..until who knows when
I can only imagine how hard it must be to be away from your husband.
I noticed that most of the responses on here were from men.
As an expat female, my advice is to stay away until things settle down. The harassment of foreigners in the streets is much worse. Even in Maadi I do not feel safe walking around the streets on my own at the moment.
In Hurghada, it's not even safe to take a taxi on your own as a woman with reports of kidnapping and rape.
If you do not NEED to be here, do not come back.
In my opinion, if the US and UK embassies have not returned to full staffing yet, it is NOT secure to return as an average citizen. Particularly if you have young children in tow
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