Egyptians in the United Kingdom

As such, prior to the late 1960s, only small numbers of Egyptians moved to the United Kingdom, and even then mostly for the purposes of study.

However, large scale emigration did not occur until after Egypt's defeat in the Six-Day War of 1967, which left the Sinai Peninsula entirely under Israeli occupation, and placed an immense economic burden on the country.

Therefore, it partially relaxed the strict regulations against emigration (which included requirements for exit visas).

This change in approach was extended under Nasser's successor as President of Egypt, Anwar El-Sadat.

With Egypt's economic liberalisation under Sadat in the 1970s, labour migration to the U.K. increased, as did the flow of Egyptians moving to the U.K. for higher education.