Security raid closes unlicensed cafés in 4 governorates

CAIRO - 21 February 2017: Security forces raided and closed more than 60 cafés and restaurants in greater Cairo since the beginning of February, following the death of a café patron.

Mahmoud Bayoumi, 24, was reportedly killed by a worker at Café Keif in the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis on Feb. 5, in a brawl over the bill after watching a football match between Egypt and Cameroon during the African Cup of Nations final.

The restaurant owner and two other employees were also arrested and are in police custody.

The main targeted areas were Masr el-Gedida, Nasr City, Mohandiseen and Zamalek. The Ministry of Interior announced that the raid only targeted unlicensed cafés and restaurants and cafés that hire ‘thugs’ to deal with costumers.

Mohammed Darwish, who owns El Helmeya café in Mohandiseen, told Egypt Today that he has had a license for one year and four months, but that didn’t stop security forces from closing his small café.

The owner of a café in Zamalek, who agreed to talk to Egypt Today on condition of anonymity, said when the government closes cafés and restaurants they close the homes of the café’s workers as well.

“We are creating job opportunities and help many people to make their livelihoods,” he said. “I hope the governorate legalizes our situation.”

He said he feels sorry for what happened to his business, adding that his problem is that someone working for the local administration asked him to pay a bribe to legalize his café but he refused. In response, his café was listed among the unlicensed cafés to be demolished.

Sources within the Cairo Security Directorate told Egypt Independent last week the raids are sound, against illegal and unlicensed cafés and those that serve alcohol without the proper license.

According to state-owned newspaper Akhbar el-Yom, Cairo Governor Atef Abdel-Hameid said the raids on unlicensed cafés will continue. He added that no one is above the law.
The raids also affected governorates outside the greater Cairo area, including Minya, where nine cafés were closed in Maghagha, and Luxor, where 12 were closed.

According to Egyptian Streets several of Zamalek’s residents in March 2016 claimed that unlicensed cafés and restaurants in their neighborhood were polluting the Nile and the shisha provided by many of the cafés contributed to the area’s air pollution.

Café owners and workers in Zamalek have in the past organized a march in the streets against what they have seen as an injustice against their business, Scoop Empire reported.