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4 - ‘Our Most Precious Asset’

The Domestic Politics of Migration Liberalisation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2018

Gerasimos Tsourapas
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Summary

This chapter explores how a migration policy shift towards liberalisation occurred, and identifies the political rationale behind it with regard to ensuring the ruling regime’s durability. It begins with a brief discussion of Anwar Sadat, particularly his perception as a weaker political leader than Nasser. This paves the way for an understanding of how Sadat embarked on a transformation of state emigration policy in order to differentiate himself from his predecessor and to enhance internal regime legitimacy under a process of 'de-Nasserisation' that Sadat termed the 15 May 1971, or 'Corrective', Revolution. At the same time, a permissive emigration policy facilitated the regime’s low-intensity repression tactics, as it encouraged political dissenters to move abroad and fostered the (re-)emergence and empowerment of the Muslim Brotherhood. Finally, a permissive emigration policy facilitated the regime’s co-optation of economic elites that benefitted from, and espoused, economic liberalisation and unrestricted population mobility.
Type
Chapter
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The Politics of Migration in Modern Egypt
Strategies for Regime Survival in Autocracies
, pp. 90 - 127
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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