SHARM EL-SHEIKH: Sarah knew she was being followed. As she wandered up the road that led to the villa she was sharing with friends, she could see the object of her loathing. The white hat bobbed up and down in the distance as the security guard attempted to ensure that she did not enter the villa she and a friend were sharing with three other men, two of whom possessed Egyptian citizenship.

Welcome to Egypt.

As she assessed the situation and her options, the previous day’s experiences leapt to her mind. The day before Sarah had a lesson in Egyptian jurisprudence. Security at the Hilton Resort in Sharm el-Sheikh had blacklisted her in order to prevent Sarah’s cohabitation with unmarried Arab men.

This was her first encounter with the so-called “fun police” in Egypt’s leading Red Sea resort. She had been forced to wait in a friend’s car for three hours after she had been identified by Hilton security as part of the mixed gender party attempting to reside in the same hotel room. Sarah and other members of the party were forced to remain in the vehicle while they waited for night to fall and the incursion into the Hilton to begin.

The surreal response of Sharm el-Sheikh locals to their trans-national friendship presented difficulties for these young Americans and Egyptians who came to Sharm seeking a respite from the rigors of Cairo life. The Egyptians in the party found it was easier just to pretend to be foreign in order to avoid looking conspicuous.

Sarah was forced to find lodging elsewhere, as it became evident that staying at the Hilton with her friends was impossible. As she attempted to find another hotel room, she encountered difficulty in even gaining access to the lobby of other hotels, such as the Marriott, Days Inn and Novotel Sharm. Finally, she found a room at the Days Inn.

“I feel like a child at a new foster home,” she began, “it’s not ideal, but at least I have somewhere to sleep.”

“I’m a tourist, not a terrorist,” remarked Ian, a frustrated American visitor in the resort town. He made this comment after being refused entry to the hotel where his friends were staying and was forced to remain under supervision until his friends came to meet him – a regular occurrence at the all-inclusive hotels along the Red Sea. Even with a guest escort, non-hotel guests are not allowed out of the reception area.

Coincidentally, rules aimed at reducing terrorist threats fail to perform this very task, even in its more basic forms. Party-goers entering the Pacha Club in town were subjected to the perfunctory metal detector, which invariably beeped as their purses were searched, ironically seeking out those pesky outside beverages prohibited inside the club. Clubs are not alone in the failure to perform simple security checks, as individuals entering hotels, restaurants and shopping establishments pass by unfettered. Measures taken to ensure the safety of luggage delivered daily to the hotel with each new batch of pre-packaged tourists, also fails to pass the test. In fact, according to Ayman, the chief receptionist at the Hilton Hotel, the only pieces of luggage scanned are those that enter through the airport and are scanned by the airlines.

When confronted on the issue of the failure to follow up the metal detector alarm, Ayman stated it was the responsibility of the individual guards to make sure that those passing through were checked, along with their bags.

When asked about some of the more questionable security policies in place in Sharm, a member of the tourist police, who asked not to be named, seemed unconcerned saying there were “no threats” in the town. He also referred to several unseen security measures in place to protect tourists, but declined to explain further. Preventing cohabitation of Egyptian men and any—but specifically foreign—females was there to ensure that tourists were not taken advantage of, the man argued. He did, however, comment that foreign, unmarried couples staying together was “OK for them.”

“Security measures are aimed at protecting foreign women, but I didn’t feel any safer,” said Sarah. “I felt like I had to constantly explain myself.” People like Sarah have said the “fun police” are those who seem to be more interested in controlling tourists and their movements, rather than keeping them safe. Ian was disturbed to find that the desk clerk at a large hotel knew the room number of his female friends by heart.

Other issues involved exclusion from beaches and pools except during the appropriate hours, including public beaches. Sarah found herself harassed on the Days Inn beach by Egyptian men who were not supposed to be allowed on the private beach, yet her own friends were denied entry with great enthusiasm on the part of the Days Inn security. Her Egyptian friends were forced to speak only English in an attempt to pass as foreign to alleviate pressures from hotel and restaurant staff and security.

Overall, the security situation in Sharm seems somewhat grim. The obsession seems to be over maintaining some sort of control; whether within a club, a shopping mall, or a hotel complex. The fun police are ever vigilant and ready to hassle foreigners. The obtuse nature of the applied rules makes it difficult for people to explore and truly glean an Egyptian experience from their holiday. Instead they are sequestered on a beach for a week, while they are watched, not watched out for.

BM

Keep advertising off Bikya Masr - donate $1 to allow this to be possible