Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass expressed support for efforts by Egyptian-British lawyer Gihan el-Hosseini to have Egyptian antiquities returned to Egypt from the British Museum.
English law prohibits the return of antiquities, and therefore the document submitted by el-Hosseini to the UK Parliament strengthens their efforts, Hawass noted.
“If Egyptians and Arabs who were naturalised in Britain signed the document, Parliament would start looking into the matter,” Hawass added.
“As a continuation of our popular campaign to retrieve our Egyptian antiquities, notably the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, we have redirected the campaign and launched it to gain legal effect in Britain,” he said.
“This is because Counselor el-Hosseini, a British lawyer of Egyptian origin residing in Britain, submitted a petition to the British Parliament requesting it to discuss amending the law on the recovery of antiquities in Britain,” he added.
The petition was accepted by Parliament on February 6, and it was published on its official website for the collection of signatures.
At least 100,000 signatures are required before the petition is considered for debate in Parliament.
“We appeal to all Egyptian and Arab citizens who are British subjects or permanent residents in the UK to sign.”
The link to the petitions is https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/632459
The deadline is 6 August 2023 as all petitions run for six months, according to the website.
