The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls for the Ministry of Interior to rescind its administrative directive mandating prior travel authorisation for certain women seeking to depart from Egypt for Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, EIPR demands accountability for those responsible for this discriminatory policy. 

EIPR strongly condemns the recent decision by the Passports and Immigration Department within the Interior Ministry. This decision is not only a violation of fundamental constitutional rights but also employs derogatory language that belittles women, their work, and their efforts, reflecting how the authorities treat these women’s rights. This decision is overtly discriminatory and is a manifestation of a broader pattern of imposing additional restrictions on the freedom of movement of Egyptians, particularly women. This pattern is characterised by systematic discrimination based on gender and class, which contradicts the fundamental principles enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution and national and international laws that prohibit, and sometimes even criminalise, such blatant forms of discrimination.

This week, newspapers published a directive issued by the Interior Ministry’s Passports and Immigration Department that mandates women who are homemakers or employed in specific professions to obtain prior authorisation for travel to Saudi Arabia, whether for a visit or employment. The decision outlined the categories for which this authorisation is required under the phrase “women of lower strata.” These newspapers published this without commentary, condemnation, or questioning of the enigmatic expression “lower strata,” which fell short of journalistic standards by failing to address the inherent insult to working and non-wage-earning women conveyed within the text. 

Following the publication of this decision, messages attributed to the Ministry of Interior circulated to tourism and travel companies, including a definition of “women of lower strata”. The message described these categories as homemakers, unemployed women, and specific professions (as depicted in the accompanying image). Several women already en route to Saudi Arabia were prevented from travelling and were required to request travel permits, resulting in additional expenses, disruptions to their travel plans, and wasted time and resources.

The directive, should it remain in effect, imposes an additional financial burden on the women concerned to obtain this permit from the primary passport centre in Abbasiya, imposing additional burdens on those who reside outside of Cairo.

Since 2015, the Passport Authority at the Ministry of Interior has implemented administrative procedures that mandate citizens between the ages of 18 and 40 to obtain prior security clearance to travel to certain countries. However, in practice, this restriction is applied to students, non-professionals and business owners, it is applied only to those without university degrees or those employed in manual labour. 

EIPR deems the recent decision to signify the lack of commitment by state officials regarding the announcement to issue legislation on equality and the prevention of discrimination. The anticipated draft law on equality and prevention of discrimination is perceived as merely a propaganda document aimed at improving the optics of the state without a genuine commitment to combating institutional forms of discrimination. This is particularly concerning given the recent ‘lower strata’ decision, which explicitly contradicts the recommendations of the first phase of the national dialogue held in August 2023, under the auspices of the President. Additionally, the National Human Rights Strategy issued in September 2021 reaffirmed the state’s commitment to issuing comprehensive and integrated legislation on equality and the prevention of discrimination.

EIPR adds that the directive in question included multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, as it discriminates between men and women in terms of freedom of travel to the KSA in general, and then demarcates the stratified categories of society into upper strata that are not subject to this decision, and groups it called ‘lower strata’ that include homemakers, non-workers, babysitters, fashion designers, those of only tertiary education and others, which represents an insult to a large percentage of Egyptian women and scorn for legal fields of work. The decree (attached image above) further discriminates by adding to those categories defined as ‘lower’ some other professions and trades subject to the same conditions, including working as home health nurses, sales representatives, and nursery supervisors.

EIPR also affirmed that the decision violates the freedom of movement and travel (Article 62 of the Constitution), which is a personal right that may only be restricted based on a constitutional or legal provision, which does not exist. Also warned that this decision will transform an exception into a general rule, and places the power of prevention and granting in the hands of a public official without fulfilling the condition of necessity, without legal criteria and clear grounds. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which according to the constitution should be treated like Egyptian legislation, guarantees in its Article 12 that the freedom to leave any territory of a state shall not be subject to any specific purpose or contingent on the period during which the person chooses to remain outside the country. This decision also contradicts Article 15 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which prohibits discrimination against women in freedom of movement and choice of residence, and the clear international jurisprudence on this issue detailed in General Recommendation No. 21, paragraph 9, of the Committee on Monitoring the Implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. 

The recent ban on women travelling to Saudi Arabia for work or visitation, regardless of visa requirements, demonstrates a disregard for women’s contributions and efforts. This policy labels domestic work and certain professions as “lower strata,” implying that women’s labour is devalued. Moreover, it disregards the bleak reality of women’s participation in the Egyptian labour force. While the Egyptian constitution acknowledges the burden of unpaid domestic work on women, even if it refers to it as “family duties”, it fails to translate this recognition into effective public policies that protect their rights while they engage in this work. Consequently, these women lack access to necessary support and resources, particularly in the event of divorce or the death of their husbands. 

The majority of women in Egypt are not wage workers. Despite the state’s persistent pledges to provide greater opportunities for women to enter and remain in the labour force, recent years have witnessed a stark decline in women’s labour force participation. According to the Egypt Labor Force Annual Bulletin 2023, the total number of employed women in Egypt has fallen below four million six hundred thousand, representing less than 16% of the total employed population. Notably, this figure includes approximately 19% who are women who work without pay in a family trade. Furthermore, the unemployment rate for women stands at 17.8%, fourfold of the unemployment rate for men (4.7%).

The Ministry of Interior has designated certain jobs as “lower strata,” which are, in fact, among the least likely jobs to provide women with access to fundamental labour rights. These rights include inclusion in the formal economy, social security, guarantees of working conditions, and minimum wages. Instead of addressing the plight of women working unpaid in the domestic sphere or in low-protection jobs that deny them their rights, the state, through the Ministry of Interior, has exacerbated their discrimination by imposing unjustified restrictions on their movement, and even travel in pursuit of better employment opportunities abroad. These restrictions are exclusively applied to women as if to institutionalize and legalize discrimination rather than combat it.

This directive is a reminder of the necessity to establish the Commission for Equality and Prevention of Discrimination in Egypt, as stipulated in the Egyptian Constitution since 2014, and sheds light once again on the general deterioration of women's rights in Egypt in the field of labour and the economy. In light of all of the above, EIPR calls on the following:

• The Ministry of Interior to rescind and cancel this directive and similar decisions that place discriminatory and unlawful obstacles to the right of women and men to travel. In addition to holding accountable those responsible for issuing this directive, including this expression that belittles Egyptian women, whether in their work in all its forms or in their unpaid work as homemakers.
   

• The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) to play an active and effective role in monitoring such policies and practices, providing opinions and intervening in the event of violations, as stipulated by Article 3 of its constitution.
   

• The National Council for Women (NCW) to actively monitor and evaluate policies related to women's rights and provide suggestions to the competent state authorities in case of violations, as stipulated in Article 8 of its 2018 organisation Law.