Status of Sierra Leoneans in Egypt
Former President of the Sierra Leone Nationals’ Union (SLNU) in Egypt, Cairo, Ismail Amin Tarawallie (in photo) has written to the Sierra Leone Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia saying that all Sierra Leoneans residing in the Arab Republic of Egypt are ‘‘well and safe.’’
Egypt has witnessed days of deadly clashes between supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi and their opponents. Adly Mansour has been named as the interim leader of the Arab world’s most populous nation.
Since the political unrest erupted a few days ago, the Sierra Leone Embassy in Riyadh accredited to Egypt has been very much concerned about the welfare of its nationals in the embattled Middle–Eastern country – by making telephone calls, sending emails and using social media to reach its nationals.
In response to one of its emails last night, Ismail Tarawallie, a student of Al-Azhar University studying languages and translation at the English department wrote: “The Sierra Leone nationals in the Arab Republic of Egypt hereby inform the government, friends and relatives at home and abroad that all Sierra Leoneans residing here are well and safe”.
Over the recent years, Tarawallie explains in his email, our fellow Sierra Leoneans studying in Alexandria Universities (the second capital) moved and joined us in Cairo. There are no longer Sierra Leonean students residing outside Cairo, which make it very easy for us to meet and discuss matters relating to our studies and safety. The majority of the students live in the Al-Azhar international hostels at Abasia, while others live in Maadi, Marg Al-jadedah, Alf Al-Maskan and Abdu Basha in Cairo.
Other parts of the email read: ‘‘On behalf of my colleagues, I would like to thank the government of H.E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma and his indefatigable diplomatic team in Saudi Arabia which oversees the day-to-day affairs of Sierra Loneans in the Arab Republic of Egypt. The Sierra Leone Embassy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been establishing regular communications with us in the interest of providing the best services to its citizens here in Egypt and that’s an indication that our government is very much concerned about us. We would equally appreciate it highly if our government could re-establish a diplomatic mission here in Egypt . ”
”We also thank H.E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma for the remarkable development and progress he and his government have achieved to improve the lives of Sierra Leoneans in our country. We are pleased to extend the greetings of love and peace to all our Muslims and Christian brothers of our beloved country, Sierra Leone. Long live the President, H.E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma; long live the country that we love Sierra Leone”, the unedited email ends.
A good number of Sierra Leonean students are currently enrolled in various faculties at Al-Azhar University, Ain Shams University, American University and others. Some of them study Languages and Translation, International and Islamic Law or Islamic Jurisdiction, Journalism, Education, Public and Office Management, Computer Sciences, to name but a few.
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