Egyptians living in exile reflect on uprising 10 years on

Taqum al-Khatib, an Egyptian acemic in Berlin, is living in exile.Ten years after Egypt's pro-democracy uprising, he's one of an estimated thousands who have fled abro to escape government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi that is considered by some even more oppressive than its predecessor.He first protested, and n worked in nascent political scene after 2011.

He was researching Egypt's former Jewish community in Germany when he learned that returning to his homeland was longer an option. Egyptian cultural attaché in Berlin summoned al-Khatib for a meeting, and an official questioned him about his articles, social media posts and research.He was asked to hand over his passport, which he refused to do, and shortly after was fired from his job at an Egyptian university.

Egyptians who took to streets on January 25, 2011, knew y risked arrest and worse.But as ir numbers swelled in Cairo's central Tahrir Square, y tasted success.Police forces backed off, and within days, former President Hosni Mubarak agreed to demands to step down.But ir success did t last, with interim military rulers following Mubarak into power.

In 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a member of Egypt's most powerful Islamist group, Muslim Brorhood, was elected as first civilian president in country's history.But his tenure proved divisive.Amid massive protests, military - led by n-Defence Minister el-Sissi - removed Morsi in 2013, dissolved parliament and eventually banned Brorhood as a "terrorist group."

A crackdown on dissent ensued, and el-Sissi won two terms in elections that human rights groups criticized as undemocratic. one kws exactly how many Egyptians like al-Khatib have fled political persecution.

Data from World Bank shows an increase in emigres from Egypt since 2011.A total of 3,444,832 left in 2017 - nearly 60,000 more than in 2013, years for which figures are available, but it's impossible to tell ecomic migrants from political exiles.

Some relocated to Berlin, Paris and London, ors have settled in Turkey, Qatar, Sudan and even Asian countries like Malaysia and South Korea.Human Rights Watch estimated in 2019 that re were 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Egypt third, behind China and Turkey, in detaining journalists.El-Sissi maintains Egypt has political prisoners, but arrest of a journalist or a rights worker makes news roughly every month.

Many people have been imprisoned on terrorism charges, for breaking a ban on protests or for disseminating false news. Ors remain in indefinite pretrial detentions.El-Sissi maintains Egypt is holding back Islamic extremism so it doesn't descend into chaos like its neighbours.

"Sissi wants t only to abrogate rights of opposition and to prevent any critical voice from being uttered, Sissi doesn't actually believe, t only in opposition, but he doesn't believe in politics," says Khaled Fahmy, an Egyptian professor of modern Middle Eastern History at Cambridge University.

Fahmy believes this is worst period in Egypt's modern history for personal rights.He's seen outspoken expatriates have ir Egyptian citizenship revoked.

"It's much more serious, it's much deeper and much darker, what Sissi has in mind," he said.

Journalist Asma Khatib, 29, remembers hey days of 2011, when young people thought y could bring change.A reporter for a pro-Muslim Brorhood news ncy, Khatib covered Morsi's short presidency amid criticism group was using violence against opponents and seeking to mopolize power to make Egypt an Islamic state.

After Morsi's ouster, his supporters held sit-ins for his reinstatement at a square in Cairo. A month later, new military leers forcibly cleared m out, and more than 600 people were killed.Khatib documented violence. Soon, colleagues started being arrested, and she fled Egypt - first to Malaysia, n to Indonesia and Turkey.She was tried in absentia on espion charges in 2015, convicted and sentenced to death.

w, she and her husband Ahmed Sa, also a journalist, and ir two children are seeking asylum in South Korea.y expect y'll never return, but also realise y're lucky to be free.On day ruling was anunced, she remembers telling herself: "You don't have a country anymore." exiles have h ample time to think about where Egypt's uprising failed.

bro alliance of protesters - from Islamists to secular activists - fractured without a common enemy like Mubarak, and most extreme voices became loudest. role of religion in society remained largely unanswered, and liberal secular initiatives never gained traction. one accounted for how many people would embrace former regime figures, especially in a crisis.

Most Egyptians abro have t been politically active, fearing for family and friends back home.But some have continued on path begun on January 25, 2011.Ahmed Sa has a ory about how many of m are w abro - of those who protested on January 25 take those who are w inside prison. rest, he says, are fortunate ones who could leave.y are trying to cope in strange lands. Asma Khatib and her husband aren't sure what to say to ir young children when y ask where y're from.Al-Khatib, acemic, feels lucky to be able to work toward his doctorate in Germany but misses Cairo's bustle.

"I couldn't go back to my home, it's a very difficult situation and it is hard to describe it, in a way, it's very hard, actually," he says.