This article was published by Human Right Watch, a write up of  Amr Magdi Senior researcher in the Middle east and North Africa Division. Here is an Extract:

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch released a report exposing how Egyptian authorities are refusing to provide identity documents including passports, birth certificates, and national IDs to critics living abroad. The goal appears to be to disrupt their lives so much that they have to choose between effectively becoming undocumented or returning to Egypt, where they could face jail time, even torture.

Following the report, Egyptian critics living in the United Kingdom and Qatar have approached me to say they have suffered similar abuses.

One of the pernicious details we uncovered in our report is how some foreign missions, including the Egyptian Consulate in Istanbul, require citizens accessing services to provide extensive, unnecessary details such as their reason for leaving Egypt and links to social to their media accounts. The forms are then sent directly to security agencies in Egypt who approve or deny access to these services.

Read the full article here.