British-Egyptian activist stopped from flying to UK, says family | Egypt
British-Egyptian writer and human rights campaigner Alaa Abd al-Fattah, who was released from prison in September, was prevented from flying to the UK due to Egyptian passport control, his family said.
Abdel Fattah was pardoned after more than 10 years in prison, but his status, including the right to travel back and forth between Britain and Egypt, was left unclear and the subject of debate between his family and the authorities.
He was due to travel to England on Tuesday to attend two conferences, including the Magnitsky human rights awards in London.
In her speech at the award ceremony, Abdul Fattah’s sister, Sanaa Seif, confirmed that her brother was stopped from flying to the UK earlier in the week due to Egyptian passport control.
She tried to fly to London with Seif on Tuesday morning but was told at Cairo international airport that she was not allowed to travel.
Abdel Fattah was pardoned by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 22 September and released from Wadi al-Natrun prison later the same day, but it is unclear whether he will be able to travel to the UK to reunite with his son Khalid in Brighton.
Abd al-Fattah and his mother, Laila Soueif, were awarded the Courage Under Fire award at the Magnitsky awards on Thursday. Seif received the award on behalf of his brother and mother.
Speaking at the event, Seif said: “I wish my brother could have been here tonight to accept this award. I wish he could have been reunited with his son Khaled in Brighton.”
“But on Tuesday morning we went together to Cairo airport to come to London and the Egyptian authorities stopped him at passport control and did not allow him to travel with me.”
Abdel Fattah was interviewed about his experience of freedom in the British press, including the Guardian, and in the Egyptian opposition press. He stated that he needed time to think about his future.
Her son Khaled is 13 and lives with his mother in Brighton, where he attends a special needs school. When Abdel Fattah was released, Khalid visited him in Egypt but returned to Brighton.
To pressure for the release of her son, Soueif went on a 287-day hunger strike on September 29, 2024, after Egyptian authorities failed to release him at the end of his final five-year sentence. Abdel Fattah was imprisoned for “spreading fake news” after sharing a Facebook post about torture in Egypt.
Soueif ended his hunger strike on Monday, July 14, 2025, after going without food for 287 days. During this time he was in St Thomas’ hospital in London and came close to death twice, in late February and June 2025.
