The foreign minister has directed diplomatic missions abroad to urge Egyptian expatriates to register their data, the Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday.
Ministry spokesperson Amr Roshdy said Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr had directed Egyptian embassies and consulates to advertise in local broadsheets to encourage Egyptians to register their data for free.
Roshdy explained that registering at Egyptian diplomatic missions is vital because it enables those missions to count Egyptians located in their areas of responsibility and contact them in case of emergency.
Roshdy said large numbers of Egyptian expatriates, especially those who do not have legal residence, fail to register their data, which makes Egyptian diplomats unable to give them help when needed.
The ministry said in 2011 that no official data about the number of Egyptians abroad is available, but it is widely estimated to be around 11 million.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
