Outrage in Egypt After South Sudanese Boy Faces Racist Abuse in Viral Video

A video shared on social media showing a young South Sudanese boy being abused and bullied by an Egyptian sparked public anger on social media.

The video shows two young boys verbally and physically abusing a young South Sudanese boy, forcing him to wash the dishes and hitting him repetitively.

The Egyptian Embassy in South Sudan released a statement on Wednesday condemning the racist abuse faced by the young South Sudanese boy, who has not been identified yet, and called for Egyptian security services “to arrest the attackers and launch an investigation to hold them accountable in accordance with Egyptian law.”

The incident sparked anger on social media, as users called for the young men to be held accountable and the hashtag “#القبض_على_خالد_العنصري” (Arrest Racist Khaled) began trending on Twitter.

⚠️🚫الفيديو المرفق في التغريدة الأساسية فيه محتوى عنصري/تنمر/عنف⚠️🚫#القبض_على_خالد_العنصري
العنصرية مؤذية,قد تكلف شخص حياته.Help

مرفق صورة المجرم، اسمه خالد،”ازال الفيديو التك توك @k_lolo4″ #القبض_على_خالد_العنصري@AhmdAlish @Ahmeeddd44 @egywomenrevolut @egyptgirlsdiary https://t.co/TaZqRDnoVO pic.twitter.com/YVt55XDBEF

— Dr.Feminist (@Drfeminist_) May 4, 2021

Last year in July, two Egyptian men were sentenced by a Giza court to two years in prison for bullying and assaulting a 14-year-old Sudanese boy. The two men were also fined EGP 100,000 ($USD 6,250 as at the time of publication), and were charged and convicted for discrimination that disturbed the public peace, insulting the boy, violating the boy’s privacy by posting a video of the racially-motivated attack online and for stealing the boy’s personal belongings.

The court’s sentence last year came after Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly approved draft amendments outlining various degrees of penalty and jail terms to criminalise bullying for the first time in Egypt’s history.

In addition to describing bullying as transgression committed on the grounds of race, gender, religion, physical attributes, and health and mental status, the new law defines the act of bullying as “a show of force or control by the offender, or the abuse of a vulnerable victim.”