President Mohamed Morsy said Wednesday that he is considering appointing an adviser to represent Egyptian expatriates.
He said during his daily Ramadan radio segment that he cares about the dignity of the Egyptian people, adding that maintaining “the dignity of Egyptians inside or outside Egypt” is one of his main responsibilities.
Official statistics show that there are 8 million Egyptian expatriates. More than half of them live and work in the Gulf region.
In recent years, expatriates, especially workers in the Gulf, have been complaining of mistreatment by foreign authorities.
This year, for example, Saudi Arabia arrested Egyptian lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawy, accusing him of smuggling drugs into the kingdom through King Abdul Aziz International Airport.
In April, Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Cairo after thousands of Egyptian staged protests outside the embassy over Gizawy’s.
His case is still being heard by a Saudi court.
Morsy, however, showed great concern last month over Egyptian journalist Shaimaa Adel who was jailed while covering protests in Sudan. Following her release, Adel returned to Cairo aboard the president’s official jet.
In the radio interview, Morsy said that more than 40,000 citizens have contacted the Abdeen Palace complaint office. He added that more than 7,000 people have used the hotline to file other complaints.
Such numbers, Morsy said, are evidence that Egyptians now feel that there is a president who cares about them.
