A Swedish journalist/blogger is awaiting deportation from Egypt after being declared persona non grata.

Per Bjorklund, who has lived in Egypt for the last three years, was detained on arrival at Cairo airport yesterday. He told friends by phone that immigration officials had stopped him because his name was listed on a computer. Several blogs have details of the story, including 3arabawy and Bikya Masr.

3arabawy says Bjorklund “has been one of the most active foreign journalists (if not the most active) in covering the Egyptian strike wave and human rights abuses, stringing for a number of Swedish publications as well as activist websites like the Electronic Intifada.” He also took part in a small Palestinian solidarity demonstration in Egypt earlier this year.

His expulsion seems to be part of a pattern. At the beginning of September, Travis Randall, an American freelance writer who had lived in Egypt for more than two years, was stopped at Cairo airport and deported.

In February, Philip Rizk, a German-Egyptian activist, was detained– blindfolded and handcuffed – for four days before being released without charge.

All three had taken part in the same demonstration last February, which may explain why they have been targeted. The demonstration was a peaceful six-mile walk organised by the secular-liberal Wafd party, in which 15 people took part.

However, the Egyptian Chronicles blog suggests Bjorklund’s extensive coverage of industrial unrest may have upset the Egyptian authorities.

Various prominent Egyptian bloggers have been harassed at Cairo airport, including the famous Wael Abbas.

In 2004, American journalist Charles Levinson was refused entry after working in Egypt for years. He was initially declared “a threat to national security” but three weeks later the authorities decided it had been a “misunderstanding” and he was allowed to return.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 30 September 2009.