British embassy in Cairo closes after Egypt removes security barriers

Criticism of Egypt’s Gaza stance abroad met with nationalist pushback and government support

The British Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. EPA

The British embassy in Cairo announced on Sunday that it would temporarily close its main building in the Garden City district after Egyptian authorities removed the concrete security barriers that had surrounded the embassy compound for decades.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the embassy said: “On Sunday August 31 security barriers outside the British embassy in Cairo were removed by the Egyptian authorities. The main embassy building will be closed while the impact of these changes is reviewed.”

The decision to remove the barriers comes amid growing calls in Egypt to apply the principle of “reciprocity” in diplomatic relations. That follows widespread criticism of the UK's handling of pro-Palestinian protests held outside the Egyptian embassy in London.

In recent months, Egyptian embassies in Europe, including London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris, have been the sites of protests against Egypt’s position on the continuing war in Gaza. Israeli bombardments of the strip have killed more than 63,000 civilians since October 2023.

Furthermore, Egyptian authorities arrested dozens of pro-Gaza activists who had aimed to gather and protest in Cairo. Authorities said that the arrested people were trying to enter the militarily sensitive North Sinai province to get to Gaza without the necessary security clearance.

In response to the demonstrations outside Egyptian embassies, a nationalist group was formed. Named the “Egyptian Youth Union Abroad”, it began holding its own pro-state demonstrations outside Egyptian embassies in several European cities.

Videos shared by the union showed members voicing threats to “Muslim Brotherhood supporters” who showed up to protest outside any Egyptian embassies.

Last week, British police detained Ahmed Abdelkader, the head of the union and his deputy, Ahmed Nasser, during clashes with protesters outside the Egyptian Embassy in London. Hours later, Mr Nasser announced his release on his Facebook page, while Mr Abdelkader was released a short time later.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Atty held a phone call with the UK's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell to discuss the detention of Mr Abdelkader. According to a statement from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Mr Abdel Atty urged the British official to “quickly investigate the circumstances of his arrest and the reasons behind it”.

However, despite the two men’s release, calls for a tougher stance against the UK and other countries continue, as support for the protests outside Egyptian embassies continued to intensify, with MPs and pro-government voices demanding reciprocal treatment from Egypt towards the security of foreign embassies on its soil.

This included demands to remove security measures around Western embassies in Cairo, particularly those of the US and UK, which are located in the heavily fortified Garden City district.

A street connecting the embassies, formerly named Latin America Street but today called Tawfik Diab Street, has been closed to cars and pedestrians since the early 2000s. The street was laden with concrete barriers that were there for the security of both embassies, which have now been removed.