Britons in Egypt: Foreign Office planning 'for all eventualities'

As street protests continue the UK government announces it is putting contingency plans in place for its citizens

The government is working on contingency plans to ensure the safety of the 20,000 Britons who are on holiday in Egypt as tensions in the country continue to escalate.

In a statement to the commons, the Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said that the government was planning "for all eventualities" as the massive street protests stretched into a seventh day. But the Foreign Office (FCO) would not comment on whether the evacuation of British citizens was being considered.

Burt said that most of the Britons currently in Egypt were in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where no serious unrest has been reported with around 10,000 others elsewhere in Egypt.

"The situation on Egypt is still very uncertain," said Burt. "The safety of our citizens is out top priority. We are putting in place contingency plans to ensure that we are prepared for all eventualities."

He repeated the FCO's current travel advice, telling those "without a pressing need" to be in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to leave by commercial means if it was safe to do so. The FCO has already advised against "all but essential travel" to Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and Luxor. Those in Luxor have been told to stay indoors if they can.

British nationals in other areas of Egypt where demonstrations are taking place are advised to avoid public gatherings and disturbances and stay indoors wherever possible.

While Cairo airport was open, Burt added, flights were disrupted or delayed and around 30 Britons were expected to spend the night in the terminal before flying tom! orrow.

He also said the FCO had sent more staff to Egypt to reinforce embassy staff.

Downing Street said the government was not currently chartering planes to evacuate Britons, as the US authorities have done.

David Cameron's official spokesman told reporters: "That's not something we are doing at the present time, but we are keeping the situation under review."

A spokeswoman for the FCO would not confirm whether the "contingency plans" included evacuation.

The US State Department said that it had evacuated more than 220 of its citizens from Egypt, adding that it hoped to bring a further 900 out of the country by the end of today.

Other countries including Austria, Bulgaria, Finland, Greece, Portugal and Turkey have begun evacuating their citizens from Egypt.

The travel association ABTA told Britons in Egypt to follow FCO advice, but added: "The vast majority of British holidaymakers in Egypt are based in resorts in the Red Sea area (for example Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada). This is a very considerable distance from the affected areas and these resorts remain unaffected."

Thomas Cook said it had cancelled its outbound flights to Luxor on Wednesday, but said return flights from there to the UK would operate as planned.

Cosmos holidays echoed the FCO's advice and said it had yet to decide about flights to Luxor after today.

Thomson said all its excursions to Cairo had been cancelled, as had outbound flights to Luxor on Wednesday.

All three operators said it was business as usual in Sharm el-Sheikh.


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