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 by: Martina Beshai
From the recent high school graduate
that decided to leave Egypt to gain the experiences of studying abroad,
to the Egyptian that unwillingly was born outside Egypt, to the Egyptian
whose faithful Egyptian grandparents have emigrated from Egypt seeking
a better life, they all are the same. Yes, one category brings
all of these people together: They are Egyptians living abroad. The
perceptions and reactions you get when you mention “Egyptians living
abroad” differs depending on how you call them. You will be surprised
when you find out that people react differently to Egyptians living
abroad depending on how you identify them.
Many Egyptians are aware of their family members and friends that work
or live in other Arabic countries in the region. If you were to address
these Egyptians and ask them if they agree that “Egyptians that work
outside of Egypt” should be giving the right to vote, you will most
certainly get a response of agreement. Not only that, but you will also
get to hear a story of their “Brother” or “Cousin” that works
in Kuwait, Qatar, or Saudi Arabia and how they are suffering to feed
their families.
Likewise,
if you were to address a group of middle class Egyptians that personally
have no one close to them working abroad, and asked one of them “Do
you think Egyptians working in Arabic countries should be giving the
right to vote in the upcoming presidential election?” they will often
nod saying yes of course. Such a response changes when you ask middle
class Egyptians about whether Egyptians living in “Europe and America”
should be giving the right to vote in the presidential election.
Once you utter the question you start to receive personalized reasons
from some Egyptians about why Egyptians living in Europe and America
should not be “trusted” to vote in the presidential elections. You
hear “America will force them to vote in a certain way” or “They
are living far away and do not have the ability to determine who is
a good candidate or not”.
Sometimes,
you cannot just help it but ask are these people aware of what they
are saying? Voting is a right, not a privilege and therefore you cannot
grant it willingly to some people and at the same time prevent others
from obtaining it! How can a post-revolutionary Egypt strive to become
a state of law while its citizens are putting their personal preferences
and what they contain of biases ahead of laws? Preferences do change,
and if we base rights of citizens on individualistic preferences, then
can we even call ourselves a state?
Egyptians
living abroad should be embraced and granted full rights because without
them Egypt will be missing a vital member. We cannot ignore the role
Egyptians living abroad play in supporting the Egyptian Economy. Furthermore,
Egyptians abroad are excelling in many fields and gaining experiences
and knowledge that is priceless. Most Egyptians living abroad are striving
to perfect the living conditions of Egypt and wish to try to play, even
a little role, in Egypt’s development. Do not we then allow them?
I say we should. It is time for Egypt to put personal preferences to
the side. It is time to unify and not segregate. The right of Egyptians
living aboard to vote is an important issue and we cannot ignore it.
“Our lives begin to end the
day we become silent about things that matter”-Martin Luther King
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