SBS Arabic 24 has spoken with Mohamed al-Sabbagh who is seeking assistance from German authorities following the December disappearance of his 18-year-old son in Egypt.
The father of two last heard from his son Isa before he boarded a flight from Frankfurt to Luxor on December 17.
Mr al-Sabbagh said his son, who holds German citizenship, was on his way to visit his grandfather and relatives in Cairo during school holidays.
However, after arriving in Luxor and before boarding his connecting flight to Cairo, Isa went missing.
EgyptAir confirmed to Mr al-Sabbagh that Isa never boarded the connecting flight, which spurred the concerned father to notify the German embassy in Egypt.
He believed that his son was detained by the Egyptian authorities before the Cairo flight.
German citizen Isa El Sabbagh (left) with his father and brother in Giessen. Source: Supplied
"I sent him a message with no response. I knew immediately this was the work of the state security forces," he said.
"The first thing they do is take away your phone so you can't call your relatives or your embassy or ask for help."
Mr al-Sabbagh's claims come as Berlin confirmed on Wednesday that another German-Egyptian student, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, was arrested after arriving in Egypt in late December.
German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Adelbahr said Mr Abdel Aziz was detained by Egyptian authorities on December 27 at Cairo airport.
Ms Adelbahr said authorities in Germany were "trying very intensively to get access" to Mr Abdel Aziz, but hadn't been able to see him and that no reason had been given for his arrest.
Student Mahmoud Abdel Aziz (supplied) Source: Supplied
Both students have a German mother and an Egyptian father.
Mr al-Sabbagh said that fears of being detained in Egypt weren't a new thing.
"Anyone I know who goes to Egypt always has the same fear," he said.
"They planted this fear and horror inside our hearts. We grew up with it. It's natural for us to feel this way."
Mr al-Sabbagh started a petition calling for any information about Isa's whereabouts, which has so far received more than 50,000 signatures.
"Concern for our son Isa eats [at] me and my wife. Nobody tells us how our son is," the petition reads.
"We have not heard anything from the Foreign Office in Berlin. We do not know why he was arrested.
"Like every teenager, Isa has dreams. The idea that he is sitting in a small cell, probably mistreated, leaves us no peace."
Human Rights Watch estimates that more than 60,000 people have been detained as political prisoners or "disappeared" since Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi came to power in 2014.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi Source: AP
Many of those detained were arrested due to work with human rights groups, which are a thorn in the side of the government.
In an interview with American network CBS aired this week, the president said Egypt has no political prisoners.
