I believe you meant immigration and not customs. As far as I know, the WMF is providing assistance to the attendees by sending out a letter of invitation, which they can annex to their applications to the respective Egyptian consulates / missions in their country. This allows for smooth visa processing and clearance. Since Egypt is a country that largely depends on tourism as a major source of its revenues, there will hardly be any problems for the tourists at the immigration counter, unless and until there are sound intelligence or political grounds.
In the unlikely event that a Wikimania attendee is restrained from entering Egyptian territory, they would most likely be deported back to their country, and there is hardly anything that a private organisation like Wikimedia Foundation can do about it. The issue is then more diplomatic or political, than just bureaucracy. People with criminal records and/or unserved time or liability in certain jurisdictions are most likely to stay away by their own understanding. Hope that helped. Best wishes, --Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 10:20 AM, Geoffrey Plourde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I was just curious as to whether or not people will be available to assist > through customs. > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: Austin Hair <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: Wikimania general list (open subscription) < > [email protected]> > Sent: Wednesday, July 9, 2008 9:10:04 PM > Subject: Re: [Wikimania-l] Questions about how to start - customs > > On Wed, Jul 9, 2008 at 10:47 PM, Geoffrey Plourde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > > The question regards customs. In the event that people don't clear > customs, > > or if customs delays them for a couple hours, will the ground team have > > plans in place to handle that? > > Handle what? > > In the event that you're refused entry into Egypt, there's not a whole > lot anyone can do about that. If you're delayed "a couple hours," you > may just miss the free shuttle. > > However good the organization team may be, it's not their > responsibility to hold every attendee's hand through every step of the > process. International travel is serious business, and you should > plan for the possibility that everything doesn't go like clockwork. > Your plane may be delayed, you may get stopped at customs, your taxi > might get a flat tire—that's just how it goes. I wish everyone the > best, but I also expect that they can handle life like grown-ups in > the event that the unexpected does happen. > > (Although I assume your question is rhetorical, since you don't appear > to be registered to attend.) > > Austin > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimania-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l > >
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