Cairo: A new newspaper published by two émigrés of Egyptian descent is promising to bring to the fore issues of Arab immigration within the Middle East and Europe.
El Mohager (The Immigrant), a 20-page monthly tabloid that also contains four pages in French, is widely catching on in France but slowly in Arab countries.
Launched in mid-2006 and printed locally, it is widely circulated in France; however, it is found in small numbers in French-speaking countries in North Africa.
It is expected to gain momentum as it struggles to highlight the problems of Arab immigrants between the Atlantic Ocean and the Arabian Gulf.
In El Mohager you will find subjects like the plight of Iraqi and other Arab immigrants in the Middle East, Arab expatriates in Japan, illegal immigrants dying or getting arrested as they cross to greener pastures on death boats, the immigrant prisoners, the efforts of the successful groups to support their own communities.
But why was this journal initiated in France?
The particular status of Arab immigrants in France has fuelled the interest of some French expatriates of Egyptian background to launch El Mohager. Last year’s race riots are also a catalyst to focus on issues of interaction between various communities in France and the social and economic fabrics which bind them.
Besides their large number and highly-felt presence in France, the Arab immigrants, unlike in England and Germany, are considerable electoral forces.
“But more than just that by starting El Mohager we have come to fill in a gap left by the Egyptian local press, Ayman Sharaf and Abdel Razaa Uqasha, El Mohager’s editors, told The Daily Star Egypt.
“The publication [acts] as an eye-opener for the Arab immigrants region-wide with regard to their life in their second country as well as the rhythm of life in their homeland, stressed both editors.
“We highlight major issues that relate to immigrants, which more often don’t come to the notice of the Egyptian local dailies due to their absence from the heart of the immigrant scene, noted Sharaf, the Egypt-based editor of El Mohager.
Abdel Razaa, himself a French Egyptian who co-edits the tabloid in France, also said that there is lack of activity by consular services who are obliged to interact with their citizens in foreign countries but usually restrict their efforts to official events and ceremonies.
The brainchild of Abdel Razza and Wesam Al Mashad, a French businessman of Egyptian background, El Mohager is published by the Horus Society, a Paris-based association founded by Al Mashad to spread Egyptian culture and look into the needs and concerns of Egyptian and Arab immigrants in France.
“The expatriate scene in France as well as in Europe has changed a great deal, he said.
He added: “The intellectual elitists of the past few decades have either passed away or repatriated and a new category of working class immigrants do now dominate the scene.
The magazine, in part, hopes to increase awareness of immigrant rights in Europe, the obligatory access to legal representation and the power of the vote for what is becoming a large electoral bloc.
The editors believe that partaking in the democratic process in the west could help immigrants reverse some of their misfortunes.
The tabloid will also shed light on living conditions and economic prospects that await immigrants to France and elsewhere.
“Some still retain the traditional image of a money-saving immigrant whose only concern is to accumulate money. We are also attempting to shed light on a younger generation of immigrant artists including filmmakers, writers and musicians who now form a new trend in arts and culture.
Sharaf also pointed out that, unlike the traditional approach of promoting tourism through tour guides and travel magazines, tabloids like El Mohager have proven a big tourism-booster.
“After 9/11, westerners are hankering for direct contact with Egyptians and other Middle Easterners. More than the tourist sites they also want to get in touch and familiarize themselves with the Arab character and way of life, Sharaf added.
El Mohager notes the impressions of French intellectuals visiting Egypt for the first time and presents them to tourists who could find them more powerful now than the paintings on the walls of temples.
Initially El Mohager was printed in France but because printing expenses proved too costly, it is now printed in Egypt.
