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Cairo imposes new restrictions on travelers

Egyptian authorities have implemented new measures to restrict the entry of foreigners and to prevent Egyptians from traveling to politically unfriendly countries like Qatar and Turkey.
Airport staff stand next to an EgyptAir plane on the runway at Cairo Airport, September 5, 2013. The ongoing political crisis in Egypt has hit the once vibrant tourism industry hard, devastating a critical part of the country's economy. And with visitors scared away by civil strife in the aftermath of the ouster of President Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's national airliner, EgyptAir has been hit hard by the tourism slowdown. The airline has taken the brunt of losses in the tourism sector, losing billions of pounds
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CAIRO — Egyptian authorities are increasingly denying foreign human rights activists entry to the country. Cairo has created security watch lists of undeclared visits of figures who oppose the Egyptian regime. Most recently, on Dec. 13, 2014, entry was denied at the Cairo airport to Michele Dunne, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who was set to attend a conference. On Aug. 4, 2013, Egyptian authorities denied entry to Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman.

Egyptian travelers also complained of being unable to travel to Turkey without prior authorization from Egyptian security authorities. In addition, Cairo imposed new measures to restrict residents from traveling to ​Qatar, Iraq, Libya and Syria.

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