Alaa Abd el-Fattah on water strike as Sunak lands for COP27

Imprisoned UK-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah has begun a water strike as the COP27 climate summit begins in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday, refusing all forms of sustenance while he remains imprisoned. 

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had originally intended to miss the climate conference, has personally pledged to "stress to President Sisi the importance that we attach to the swift resolution of Alaa’s case."

There has been no word from Egyptian authorities for months.  

Abd el-Fattah’s decision to go on water strike as Sunak lands in Sharm el-Sheikh for this year’s summit means that the imprisoned activist may die while the Britain's new leader is in Egypt. 

“When the lights come on on Sunday November 6, I shall drink my last glass of water. What will follow is unknown,” said Abdel-Fattah in a letter to his family, seen by The New Arab. 

“I’ve taken a decision to escalate at a time I see as fitting for my struggle for my freedom… for the victims of a regime that’s unable to handle its crises except with oppression, unable to reproduce itself except through incarceration.” 

“The world's attention is going to be on COP27 to take meaningful action on the climate crisis, and now the world's attention is also going to be on Rishi Sunak to take meaningful action to secure the release of my brother,” said Alaa’s sister Sanaa Seif on Sunday. 

Seif is travelling to Egypt on Sunday to participate in the climate summit as a civil society observer. 

Pressure has been building on UK lawmakers to act as Seif has led an international campaign from London, calling on the UK Foreign Office to make an urgent intervention. 

"I hope the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak understands the urgency, I know he can do it if he has his mind to it - and if he shows the rest of the entities in the government that this is a priority," said Seif on Sunday morning. 

Cross-bench MPs, ambassadors and Nobel Peace prize winners have also lent their weight to the campaign.

”I very much hope that the PM will take the opportunity to put all possible pressure on the Egyptians to release Alaa back to his family,” said senior Conservative David Jones MP. 

While family members, activists and politicians step up actions for Abd el-Fattah’s release, he spoke directly to his family ahead of the water strike which will put his life in even greater danger:

“The decision was taken while I am flooded with your love and longing for your company.”