Concerned for families and the future, Egyptian expats watch events unfold

Ismail Abdou has been following the news minute by minute as protests overtake his home country of Egypt.

About 50 members of Abdou’s family live in Cairo, the city that Abdou left to pursue his doctorate in oncology at the University of Alberta.

It’s now the scene of mass violent clashes that erupted after last week’s ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi. Those clashes killed 51 people and injured hundreds.

“It’s really sad to see innocent people, peaceful protesters, going through this. That’s very hard on any human being regardless of your political ideologies or religions,” Abdou said Tuesday.

Abdou said he has been gripped by the news since the country’s 2011 revolution, which overthrew the regime of then-president Hosni Mubarak. Although his family has avoided harm by staying away from large crowds, the protest has still affected their daily lives, Abdou said.

Yasser Khaled, president of Edmonton’s Egyptian Students’ Association, has similar worries, especially since his wife and child are vacationing in Cairo.

“They’re having to stay home because they’re so scared they might get shot at any time,” said Khaled, a masters student in dentistry at the U of A.

Khaled said the students’ association has helped its members communicate with their families in Egypt.

Much like Egypt’s population, the community in Edmonton is divided, Khaled said.

“Most of the people, including myself, think it’s a military coup and that it shouldn’t be this way,” said Sherif Ayoup, an imam at the Al Rashid Mosque.

Despite the political turmoil, Ayoup hopes to one day return to Egypt. But for now, he said, the future of his country remains unclear. “What’s going to happen, nobody knows.”