Ten years ago, they were overthrowing the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak. Now they are in exile in Britain, under threat of imprisonment by the military regime. For the revolutionaries in Cairo, it was a long journey of great hopes and broken dreams.
“I was part of a historic moment,” says Sayed, 39. He was working in the Middle East in December 2010 when Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor in Tunisia, set fire to a protest against the treatment given by local authorities. Fueled by social media coverage, the incident sparked protests across the region, including in Egypt, where crowds flocked to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, demanding the overthrow of Mubarak.
“Tunisia has inspired us,” says Sayed. “I dreamed that we could change Egypt.” He returned home and took a leading role in the revolution. “It was the best decision I ever made.”
On January 25, 2011, after 18 days of protests, Mubarak resigned. “It was a shocking day,” said Aly Khafagy, 37, a young leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the powerful political group that opposed the regime. “We have shaken Mubarak’s throne. We ended 30 years of corruption, injustice and constant fear. “
Hani Mahmud, 41, a political communications officer for former presidential candidate Abdel Moneam Aboel Fotouh, was on the streets of Cairo when the regime fell. “The 25th was a day full of hope for all of us,” he says. “Finally, we would have social justice, democracy and positive changes.”
These dreams were short lived. On July 3, 2013, the military launched a coup against the revolutionary government. The head of the army, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, dismissed Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Morsi, classified the revolution as a conspiracy against the army and suspended the new constitution.
Sisi launched a wave of repression and human rights violations against his political opponents. Egypt now has 60,000 political prisoners, the majority consisting of young activists, politicians, journalists and doctors who opposed the regime. “We were naive,” says Sayed. “The counter-revolution defeated us. The regime destroyed my life in Egypt. They arrested, tortured and threatened me. They left me with no choice – just to escape my country. ”He arrived in London in 2018 to apply for asylum.
Khafagy, who now lives in Manchester, was the regime’s first target in 2013. He fled to the UK in 2019. “The Sisi government sentenced me to 50 years in absentia, froze all my assets and put my name on the criminal list , ” he says.
Mahmud also applied for asylum in the UK and now lives in Scotland with his family. He considers himself fortunate to have managed to get out in time. “I’m lucky to be a refugee in the UK,” he says. “As far as I know, no one who believed in or participated in the revolution was not the target of the Sisi regime. I have many friends who have been killed, imprisoned or exiled. “
Now, a decade after Mubarak’s downfall, they lament the lost hopes of a democratic Egypt with a mixture of anger and disappointment. Mostly, they agitate to get their allies out of prison. “I retired from politics,” says Sayed. “The only thing I can do now is to campaign for our friends who are in prison.”
Mahmud is determined to do something. “It is immoral to ignore all this pain,” he says, “forgetting our friend in prison or who was killed and just going on with our lives.”
His feelings about the new home are mixed. All of them are grateful for the status of refugees they have secured, but many are outraged that Britain maintains relations with Egypt’s military regime. “As long as powerful nations like the United States and Britain continue to associate with Sisi, ignoring their atrocities, dictatorships will continue to exist,” says Mahmud. “It’s shameful. The UK has given me protection against Sisi, but it continues to do business with him ”.
Insofar as there is hope, it is for the future, and an expectation that the revolution will serve as inspiration for the next generation of Egyptian activists.
“I will never give up,” says Khafagy. “I will continue what we started in 2011. The factors that drove the revolution 10 years ago continue today. Sooner or later, the Egyptians will return to the streets demanding a better future. “
Sayed agrees. “We did it once and we can do it again. Although the revolution failed, our generation left good lessons for the generations to come. “
This aspiration is the last spark of flames that once shook the Middle East and overthrew one of the longest dictatorships in the region.
“The legacy of the revolution is hope,” says Mahmud, “even with all our defeats.”
* Some names have been changed to protect people’s identities