Binoculars confiscated by Egyptian authorities at airport (1 Viewer)

[Parabellum]

I ran into a friend today who was just back from a birding trip to the Middle East. She was most upset that upon her arrival in Egypt authorities at the airport confiscated her binoculars claiming they had military applications. They then suggested she could buy new ones in town. Apparently a camera with any size lens was OK. I have never been to Egypt and not done any international birding in years. Is this sort of thing common? Where else does it happen? What do you do if you want to go birding in such a place?

Ive traveled to quite a few countries and have had the same thing happen. The majority of the time its just that guy wanted that item and Americans/Europeans are gullible enough to fall for it. Its unfortunate buy in most cases its still better to just hand it over then resist. Its the cost of travel to some countries.

 

[greer3]

My advice is: place a bird guide book in the same bag or case your binoculars/ optical equipment will be located. When challenged point to the book and mime bird watching, looking into the sky thru your bins to indicate why you've got them. This is exactly what I did on the one occasion I was challenged at an airport. They then let me through without confiscating the bins. I can't remember where it was but it wasn't Egypt, Tunisia or Morocco; places I've been to and mentioned in this thread.

 

[Tedsun]

I’m hearing photographers are getting their dslr camera zoom lenses confiscated (anything over 50m), upon entering Egypt.

 

[Jos Stratford]

I'm hearing photographers are getting their dslr camera zoom lenses confiscated (anything over 50m), upon entering Egypt.

"I'm hearing" ... from where?

 

[KC Foggin]

I’m hearing photographers are getting their dslr camera zoom lenses confiscated (anything over 50m), upon entering Egypt.

Just jumping in here to wish you a warm welcome from those of us a BirdForum! Enjoy

 

[Gladiator96]

I stand to be corrected but my impression was that this was mainly a risk in Cairo and not at other airports in Egypt e.g. Hurghada. Still ridiculous nonetheless.

 

[iraqbabbler]

I've been to (and birded in) every inhabited continent on Earth, and the only place I've had trouble in regarding my binoculars is the Middle East. The problem here is that government means absolute authority, so it is normal for a customs/airport official to think they can do whatever they want and confiscate (steal) what takes their fancy.

In Iraq, this is also a problem. When flying through Baghdad Airport, I usually explain to the security/customs people that my (Leica) bins are neither military nor night-vision ones, and they usually go to verify that and hand them back to me. However, I nearly had them taken off me on a recent trip by a guy who was determined to steal them. I kicked up a shindy and refused to give in. I was lucky that his supervisor agreed that I could hand in the bins to an airport worker to give to a relative of mine later. I took his phone number and my relative phoned him and got the binoculars! I was lucky that that airport worker was an honest person, unlike the customs guy. However, it meant that I travelled without my bins. Pretty crap! I told a fellow Iraqi birder about that incident (there are so few of us in this country that we can be counted on one hand) and he related a similar thing which had happened to him.

The moral of the story: Much of the Middle East is f*&ked up in more ways than you can imagine. There are much friendlier places that have beautiful birds which you can visit. If you do insist on coming here, be prepared to lose your bins.

 

[greer3]

I've been to (and birded in) every inhabited continent on Earth, and the only place I've had trouble in regarding my binoculars is the Middle East. The problem here is that government means absolute authority, so it is normal for a customs/airport official to think they can do whatever they want and confiscate (steal) what takes their fancy.

In Iraq, this is also a problem. When flying through Baghdad Airport, I usually explain to the security/customs people that my (Leica) bins are neither military nor night-vision ones, and they usually go to verify that and hand them back to me. However, I nearly had them taken off me on a recent trip by a guy who was determined to steal them. I kicked up a shindy and refused to give in. I was lucky that his supervisor agreed that I could hand in the bins to an airport worker to give to a relative of mine later. I took his phone number and my relative phoned him and got the binoculars! I was lucky that that airport worker was an honest person, unlike the customs guy. However, it meant that I travelled without my bins. Pretty crap! I told a fellow Iraqi birder about that incident (there are so few of us in this country that we can be counted on one hand) and he related a similar thing which had happened to him.

The moral of the story: Much of the Middle East is f*&ked up in more ways than you can imagine. There are much friendlier places that have beautiful birds which you can visit. If you do insist on coming here, be prepared to lose your bins.

'Much of the Middle East is f*&ked up in more ways than you can imagine'
Twas ever thus.

 

[Acrocephalus]

I have heard of this confiscation of optical gear happening in Egypt before, plus in Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia. It is standard in Algeria.

It puts me off visiting any of the countries involved, and I wonder how tour companies who advertise birding trips to Egypt and Morocco (don't see any for Jordan and Tunisia) get round it. Apparently trips to look for Algerian/Kabylie Nuthatch use a couple of pairs of binoculars that the local guides provide.

Another thing that surprises me is that cameras and big lenses are allowed but bins and scopes can be confiscated.

Re: Morocco I believe such confiscations are extremely rare, so for practical purposes probably not worth worrying about. I have heard multiple cases from Egypt and Jordan though, although it doesn’t seem to be guaranteed to happen. In all cases gear seems to be returned on exit so it’s not a scam. For Algeria, the policy is clear which makes life easy
Cheers
James

In Morocco, these "incidents" are extremely, extremely rare. And when they happen, it's almost certain a local problem between the concerned officer and the ecotourist (and these kind of problems can happen with any life event not just optics at country ports). Tens of tour companies advertise birding trips to Morocco as they had done so since years/decades. This oldish blog maybe of interest: Are birding optics banned from entry in Morocco? - MaghrebOrnitho

 

[Muppit17]

In Morocco, these "incidents" are extremely, extremely rare. And when they happen, it's almost certain a local problem between the concerned officer and the ecotourist (and these kind of problems can happen with any life event not just optics at country ports). Tens of tour companies advertise birding trips to Morocco as they had done so since years/decades. This oldish blog maybe of interest: Are birding optics banned from entry in Morocco? - MaghrebOrnitho

In Morocco, most questioning is related to drones (which are banned).

High end set ups can also be viewed as 'professional'. A licence is needed for some activities. However in in 20 years of going, I haven't had a problem.

 

[Acrocephalus]

In Morocco, most questioning is related to drones (which are banned).

High end set ups can also be viewed as 'professional'. A licence is needed for some activities. However in in 20 years of going, I haven't had a problem.

Indeed, drones are currently not allowed (of course, this may change in the future).

And in my experience, the questioning around the high end cameras has more to do with filming licence fees (to the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre) than anything.

 

[jurek]

Another country which confiscates binoculars: Ethiopia.

In the recent trip to Ethiopia, we had to declare all binoculars, scopes and thermal scopes. Te tour local company arranged a representative from the ministry of ourism (!) to show up on the airport and deliver temporary import permits, but still we had several hours of hassle.

Another group in late 2022, per mammalwatching. forum, had their bins confiscated and returned to them upon leaving.


Few years ago I was on transit on the Addis Ababa airport, and they promoted wildlife tourism with photos of wildlife like gelada, menelik's bushbuck, yellow-faced parrot etc. Now it seems that Ethiopia given away its opportunity to earn money on wildlife tourism.

BTW, if anyone is going to Ethiopia, you can PM me for details how to avoid this hassle.

 

[opisska]

In Morocco, these "incidents" are extremely, extremely rare. And when they happen, it's almost certain a local problem between the concerned officer and the ecotourist (and these kind of problems can happen with any life event not just optics at country ports). Tens of tour companies advertise birding trips to Morocco as they had done so since years/decades. This oldish blog maybe of interest: Are birding optics banned from entry in Morocco? - MaghrebOrnitho

You come to every discussion relating to this topic and loudly marginalize the problem. Yet it keeps happening to people visiting Morocco over and over. Your unending denial does not make the problem magically disappear. Nobody cares that it is, in your view "a local problem", the end result for the traveller is the same.

 

[James Lowther]

You come to every discussion relating to this topic and loudly marginalize the problem. Yet it keeps happening to people visiting Morocco over and over. Your unending denial does not make the problem magically disappear. Nobody cares that it is, in your view "a local problem", the end result for the traveller is the same.

Is that actually true? I only ever heard of one case from Morocco. On the other hand huge numbers of birders visit every year without incident.
Bad experiences happen to travelers in every country. It is unfortunate if visitors to any country fall foul of overzealous immigration officers, but if this is a very atypical occurrence in certain countries e.g. Morocco then that’s important information.
James

 

[opisska]

There are at least three cases reported on this forum (maybe four, the links to Twitter are now dead so it's unclear whether the forth refers to one of the previous or not) plus I got additional reports of the issue privately. Is it a lot? Well that's for anybody to decide, but there are many countries around the world where this is exactly zero.

 

[James Lowther]

ok so there's a few cases - still vastly outnumbered by successful visits. And clearly there is no national rule in Morocco forbidding optics (which was the fear for a brief period in the past) so it's a case of bad luck with an inexperienced/overzealous customs officer (rather than an inevitable consequence of draconian national laws as in Algeria). Very bad if it happens to you but also very unlikely.

What i don't really understand is why you take such offence at Acrocephalus providing the context to the reports of confiscated optics. To me it seems like helpful and reassuring information, you seem like you won't be satisfied unless he issues some sort of grovelling public apology on behalf of his country (I also remember previous threads on this topic BTW).

cheers,
James

 

[opisska]

Because he comes to every discussion about the topic and loudly proclaims that his position is the right one and everyone who expressed concerns is mistaken. If you look through older discussion on this topic, he posts this position repeatedly in the tone "this is settled, just refer to my previous post" and as "evidence" presents his own blogpost.
So the end result is that when someone reads just one thread it looks like I am "attacking Acrocephalus" but in fact I am just against his own agenda completely taking over the discussion.

Maybe someone considers this irrelevant, that's their choice. For me it's a strong reason to not travel to Morocco, despite really wanting to, because it's near, really beautiful and has a lot of birds and mammals that I really want to see.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Another country which confiscates binoculars: Ethiopia.

In the recent trip to Ethiopia, we had to declare all binoculars, scopes and thermal scopes. Te tour local company arranged a representative from the ministry of ourism (!) to show up on the airport and deliver temporary import permits, but still we had several hours of hassle.

Another group in late 2022, per mammalwatching. forum, had their bins confiscated and returned to them upon leaving.


Few years ago I was on transit on the Addis Ababa airport, and they promoted wildlife tourism with photos of wildlife like gelada, menelik's bushbuck, yellow-faced parrot etc. Now it seems that Ethiopia given away its opportunity to earn money on wildlife tourism.

BTW, if anyone is going to Ethiopia, you can PM me for details how to avoid this hassle.

This is very interesting, what year did you visit Jurek? We had no such issues in 2019, though of course that was prior to the horrendous conflict that is still on-going - perhaps a fact? Or was another explanation offered?

 

[MiddleRiver]

I recently had an inquiry from someone in Saudi Arabia, wanting to buy binos I have listed elsewhere. When I looked up import policies, all I could see were red-flags. Very sad and akward...

 

[opisska]

I am headed to SA in a month or so and everyone I talked to reported no problems with bringing anything, including thermal imagers, but the sample size there is, of course, laughable. Maybe you'll see a huge rant from me soon