The Office of International Programs (OIP) confirmed that there are a number of Boston College students currently in Egypt, but said that, as of last Friday, the students were safe and preparing for class this week.
“OIP is in contact with BC students in Cairo and their families,” said Christina Dimitrova, assistant director of international development in OIP, in an e-mail. “They are safe and at this moment preparing for the start of classes on Sunday.”
Dimitrova said on Friday that her office was in the middle of an emergency situation and would not be able to comment further on the situation.
There are three external study abroad programs to Egypt available to BC students through OIP, including one at the American University in Cairo. All three programs are in Cairo.
The American University in Cairo is located roughly 20 miles outside of the downtown area and Tahrir Square, where the majority of the protests have occurred.
The Associated Press reported that beginning today, the U.S. State Department would be evacuating American citizens who wish to leave the country on chartered flights from Cairo to Europe.
The U.S. will have enough flights to take out all American citizens and dependents who wish to leave the country, Assistant Secretary of State Janice Jacobs told reporters. According to the report, there are roughly 52,000 Americans currently registered as being in Egypt with the embassy in Cairo.
This announcement from the State Department came yesterday, two days after the department issued a travel alert cautioning U.S. citizens of the developing protests and political unrest in Egypt.
On Friday, President Hosni Mubarak deployed the military to suppress protesters, with tanks taking up positions in the streets of Cairo and Alexandria. According to numerous reports, Egyptian police forces opened fire on protesters in Cairo on Saturday, and the total casualties are estimated to be at least 80 dead and thousands injured, according to the Associated Press.
The alert also advised Americans in Egypt that the Egyptian government had imposed a curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez until further notice.
On Saturday, about 200 people gathered in Harvard Square in a show of support for the Egyptian protesters, according to a report by The Boston Globe. The crowd came bearing signs, banners, and bull horns, according to the report, with sentiments strongly against the Egyptian government.
