The Office of International Programs has cancelled the Georgetown 2013 Summer Program in Alexandria, Egypt due to safety concerns.

The OIP Division of Overseas Studies released a message this afternoon notifying students who were enrolled in the program.

“While security concerns have generally been limited to a few locations in Egypt, and foreigners have not been targeted, the unrest is expected to escalate in the near future due to fuel and food shortages,” Associate Director of Overseas Studies Lisa Gordinier wrote in the email.

The program would have taken place at Alexandria University from June 5 to August 15 and incorporated cultural activities, including a trip to Cairo, with intensive Arabic studies at all levels. Participants were to receive 12 credits.

OIP has provided those enrolled in the program with information about alternatives, such as the Georgetown School of Continuing Studies’ Arabic and Persian Language Institute, which would award six credits for its intensive option.

Students’ deposits will be refunded upon request or credited for future use to their accounts.

In January 2011, Georgetown students studying abroad at the American University in Cairo were evacuated following protests against then President Hosni Mubarak that were part of the Arab Spring, a series of uprisings occurring in the Middle East.