A total estimate is impossible, however, since many are unofficial Urfi marriages. Some activists and lawyers are questioning the efficacy of the restrictions, however. Tahani El-Gebali, a lawyer, believes that the move will not have the impact the minister seeks. We should consider legal intervention when all other measures fail. If young Egyptian women are forced to marry foreign men due to dire poverty, we have to look at the social and economic issues at hand.
Legal measures are the easiest way for the government to deal with the problem.
El-Gebali also fears that the LE25,000 stipulation could lead to the catastrophic proliferation of Urfi marriages, by men seeking to avoid the legal obligations that an officially registered marriage would entail. Protecting a woman's rights and those of her children should not entail estimating how much she is worth, and translating that into bonds. Ibrahim believes that, if the government is serious about protecting the rights of women, legislators should insist, for instance, that the woman retain the right to divorce herself without renouncing her financial rights. Under the current law, Egyptian women who marry foreign men are not entitled to give their nationality to their children, and are consequently denied services such as free education and health care.