Alaa Abd el-Fattah Faces Calls for Deportation After UK Arrival Amid Past Detention and Tweets Controversy
Alaa Abd el-Fattah was released from Egyptian detention on September 23, 2025, after spending years in jail, including periods in Tora prison where he reportedly faced torture. A travel ban had previously prevented him from leaving Egypt. He arrived in the UK on Boxing Day 2025 to celebrate with his son, marking their first reunion in 12 years.
Within 24 hours of his arrival, calls to deport him and revoke his British citizenship surfaced after tweets he posted on December 27 circulated online. Far-right figures such as Tommy Robinson and Reform UK amplified the tweets, while the Sunday Telegraph ran a front-page story accusing Labour leader Keir Starmer of welcoming an extremist to Britain. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch stated that citizenship decisions must take into account social media activity, public statements, and patterns of belief.
Abd el-Fattah became a prominent figure during the 2011 Egyptian pro-democracy uprising. After the fall of Hosni Mubarak, the military cracked down on protesters and he was imprisoned by the regime. He spent years in Egypt’s maximum-security prisons, enduring torture, and remained a symbol of the revolution’s democratic aspirations. In 2013, he faced charges including organizing a peaceful demonstration and sharing a post about torture. He served a five-year sentence plus six years for alleged ‘fake news.’
Throughout his activism, Abd el-Fattah has maintained a long-standing commitment to anti-sectarianism and pro-democracy work, including solidarity with Coptic Christians after a 2011 attack. He has condemned terrorism and violence against civilians and has apologized for some past tweets.
Commentary by Naomi Klein argues that the UK right is manufacturing fear by portraying Abd el-Fattah as an ‘anti-white Islamist.’ The piece frames him as a non-sectarian human rights advocate and a hero of a stolen revolution who deserves freedom rather than deportation.
