Australians flee strife-torn Egypt
Four hundred stranded Australian holiday makers will flee strife torn Egypt on a government charted flight.
ONE is frightened and anxious to leave the country, the other is almost overwhelmed at the prospect of her adopted homeland freeing itself from a hated regime.
Egyptian Australians in Cairo had contrasting views on the drama unfolding around them when interviewed by The Age yesterday.
Melbourne teenager Rashida Douka, 14, was preparing to flee the city and return with her 17-year-old sister to the safety of the family home in Tarneit, near Hoppers Crossing.
Fatouma Ahmad with a photo of daughter Rashida Douka, who is in Cairo. Photo: Joe Armao
''I'm scared, it's really dangerous for girls,'' Rashida said from her relative's house in suburban Cairo, where she said she had been holed up for several days. The sisters were set to venture outside to find a taxi to deliver them to the Australian embassy and hopefully onto the Qantas plane the Gillard government has chartered to evacuate Australians from Egypt.
At the weekend they kept indoors as angry protesters passed through their neighbourhood, Rashida said.
''People are just getting pretty aggressive. They're going round the neighbourhoods, they're breaking into places - mostly places owned by government - they're trashing the place. There are people who came out of jail.''
Rashida's mother, Fatouma Ahmad, at home in Tarneit, said she had told her daughters yesterday morning that it was time to leave the house and go to the embassy in the hope of getting out of the country.
''I think it's better for them to come back because in Egypt there is big trouble,'' she said. ''They are stuck inside, they're not eating [properly]. They are not safe where they are.''
Food was becoming scarce in their neighbourhood, Rashida said. ''All the shops are closed. You can't buy food, you can't buy supplies, you can't get anything because everybody's closed, it's getting really scary.''
But Cairo resident Inas Hassan, who grew up in Bendigo, said she was no longer afraid. Members of her family, including her husband and a daughter, were preparing to join yesterday's march against the Mubarak government.
''Everybody is preparing to go to Tahrir Square to take part. We actually held a family meeting to decide who in our family is going to go,'' Mrs Hassan said.
''Everyone's going, just normal people, because they've just had enough and they feel that there's hope for change.''
Or almost everyone. Mrs Hassan said she would stay home to care for her disabled daughter, who was also desperate to join the march. ''She wants to go [and] she's quadriplegic. Her friends are going.''
The Egyptian army reassured demonstrators yesterday that their cause was legitimate and that they would not use violence to quell the mass protest.
Mrs Hassan said she had been outside and spoken to Egyptian soldiers on Sunday and they had been friendly. Her husband had shaken their hands. She believed it was now only the government resisting the people's will.
''The government is at war with the people - they cut the internet, they cut phones for a few days, then the police used tear gas,'' Mrs Hassan said. ''These are just people, they're not a political party, they're just regular Joe Blow and the security forces are fighting them.''
But she said she sensed that the momentum had shifted, and it was her hope that today's march would deliver a long-cherished ambition for Egypt.
''Democracy, true democracy, not a pretend one. People want to progress but the government is holding them back and corruption is holding them back,'' Mrs Hassan said.
