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January 27, 2012 2:19 PM EST
The U.S. government is trying to lift a travel ban on a number of American citizens who were forbidden from leaving Egypt earlier this week.
"We are urging the government of Egypt to lift these restrictions immediately and allow folks to come home as soon as possible," State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters on Thursday.
At least 10 Americans and Europeans, including the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, working with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt were barred from leaving the country after they tried to board a plane in the capital.
Authorities have yet to give a detailed reason for the travel ban, but it comes after a crackdown by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) against at least 17 NGOs working in Egypt, including the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). In December, security forces entered NGO offices and confiscated files, computers and cash.
"Officials in Washington, Berlin and London expressed alarm and dismay that democracy-building organizations would be subject to search and seizure, especially by a regime that receives so much Western military and economic aid," The National Interest magazine said on Friday.
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But the NGO raid is part of the growing trend of what Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Ed Husain called the "strong sense of xenophobia in Cairo."
Like Mubarak during the protests that led to his removal, the sitting government in Egypt, as well as parts of Egyptian society, believe that foreign powers and "the West" are trying to control what's happening in the Arab world, and that the United States is inserting itself into Egypt's nascent democracy.
The United States has been working in Egypt for decades, providing economic and development assistance, and $1.3 billion in aid annually for health, food, infrastructure and agriculture projects, and President Barack Obama sent an additional $65 million to American NGOs in Egypt following the revolution.
"In addition, the U.S. Agency for International Development has provided over $28 billion in economic and development assistance to Egypt since 1975," USAID reported.
In total, the U.S. sends more aid to Egypt than any other country except Israel. Moreover, it's counter-intuitive for the SCAF to be fostering a distrust of Americans. The United States and Egypt have a strong military relationship and U.S. Foreign Military Financing programs have provided Egypt with fighter jets, tanks, helicopters, surveillance aircrafts and anti-aircraft missiles.
Of course, these deals were made under Mubarak. USAID described its involvement in Egypt as a "relationship based on shared mutual interest in Middle East peace and stability," which in large part meant Israel. While Egypt was friendly toward Israel during the last regime, the country is still trying to figure out its relationship with Israel in the post-revolution political landscape.
The U.S. government has already said it would re-evaluate its military aid if the Americans were not allowed to go home. And while it waits, the United States will keep watching the overall situation in Egypt.
"We continue to think that for the health of Egypt's democracy, this is not just about our NGOs, it's also about the right of Egyptians and Egyptian civil society to operate freely and to support their democratic process through nongovernmental organizations," Nuland said.
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