Immigration Min. 'delighted' with high turnout in KSA, Kuwait, Jordan

CAIRO – 16 March 2018: As Egyptian expatriates flocked to embassies to cast their votes on the first day of the presidential election, Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram praised the high turnout in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan.

In her statements to Extra News channel, Makram described the turnout in the three Arab countries as “delightful,” adding that the countries have provided facilities for Egyptian nationals to participate in the elections.


Egyptian community members in Jordan cast their votes in the 2018 presidential election on March 16, 2018 - Press photo


Immigration Minister Makram said that she met personally with officials in Jordan and Kuwait to enable Egyptian workers to cast their vote in the election during the three days.



Egyptian expats in Kuwait waiting outside the embassy to cast their votes on March 16, 2018 - Press photo


In Saudi Arabia, the Egyptian community organized massive campaigns, organizational committees and voluntary task teams to assist in the 2018 presidential election in the Saudi kingdom and to encourage Egyptian expatriates into heading to the Egyptian embassy in Riyadh and the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah to cast their ballots.

The Egyptian community also made preparations for health care units, provided polling stations with wheelchairs for the elderly and the disabled, juices and beverages and formed organizational committees to assist voters.



Egyptian community in Riyadh head to polling stations to vote in presidential election - Press photo



Egyptian community in Riyadh head to polling stations to vote in presidential election - Press photo


The community also launched a social media campaign to encourage Egyptian expats to participate and cast their ballots.

The Ministry of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs has provided hotline numbers to receive any complaints from expatriates during the three-day voting process in the presidential election.


Egyptian Immigration Minister Nabila Makram at Operation room - press photo

According to the statement, the numbers are: 01289850655, 01008113352, 01553486360 and 01128856655. It also provided an email for receiving complaints: Egyptiansabroad@emigration.gov.e.

The ministry has launched an operation room to follow up on the 2018 presidential election abroad. The operation room is launched under directives of immigration minister Nabila Makram to ensure an easygoing ballot casting process for Egyptian expatriates.

The room is fully equipped with the required devices to communicate and monitor the election process upload; it communicates with Egyptian embassies across the globe to resolve any obstacle that might hinder the process.

The Egyptian embassy in New Zealand was the first to open to the electorate, given an 11-hour time difference with Cairo.

The voting process for expatriates began on Friday for three days, where Egyptian communities will head to 139 polling stations located in embassies and consulates of 124 countries to choose between two candidates; the current President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Moussa Mostafa Moussa.

Consulates and embassies across the world were to officially open their doors Friday at 9 a.m. local time in each country.