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Sudanese children at the Notre Dame church in Cairo, January 2, 2006.
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Until
the terrible events of December 30, 2005, grabbed the headlines, few
were aware that Egypt plays host to refugees from more than 30
countries. Early that morning, security forces using water cannons,
pepper canisters, and sticks expelled some 3,000 Sudanese refugees
from the Mustafa Mahmoud Park outside the offices of the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The peaceful protest of the
refugees had begun on September 29, 2005. On December 22, the UNHCR
requested the Government of Egypt (GoE) to disperse the protestors
after its negotiations with the refugees had failed.
While
the majority of refugees in Egypt are from all regions in the Sudan,
there are also large numbers of Somalis, Eritreans, and Ethiopians,
North Africans, and even more from Central and West Africa. Refugees
from the Middle and Far East also seek asylum in Egypt. In addition,
there are an estimated 70,000 Palestinians. Estimates for the number
of refugees in Egypt vary from 500,000 to 3,000,000; however,
because of a number of reasons, it is impossible to give an accurate
figure.
There has been a UNHCR office in Cairo since 1954. The GoE ratified both
the 1951 and the 1967 Organization of African Unity (OAU)
Conventions
(1)
concerning refugees,
and includes provision for providing asylum in its constitution.
Provision was made in 1984(2)
for recognizing refugee status, but
during the 1980s, the UNHCR refused to recognize those processed by
the GoE.(3)
In the 1990s, the UNHCR itself assumed the responsibility
for refugee status determination (RSD) under its 1950 mandate.(4)
The
GoE "recognizes" those granted asylum by UNHCR by stamping
residency in their refugee cards.(5)
Why
don't we know how many refugees there are in Egypt? Many refugees
have never even heard of the UNHCR, or cannot access its office. For
example, one Ethiopian refugee found employment as a domestic worker
in Alexandria; her employer held her passport and she could only
leave the house on the days when the UNHCR offices are closed. Even
if she had reached the UNHCR with her passport, her Egyptian visa
had already expired.
(6)
Refugees
live in 25 locations throughout greater Cairo, and areas,
such as Arba wa Nus, are squatter settlements that have
little access to clean water, electricity, or sanitation. |
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Visas
to enter Egypt have only been required for Sudanese since 1995.
(7)
At this point, the UNHCR also started conducting RSD interviews
for Sudanese. Given the wars that were raging there, the
recognition rate of Sudanese applicants was staggeringly low. A
refugee can appeal a negative decision; however, this does not
constitute an independent interview by a different body. Moreover,
the UNHCR refuses to provide reasons for rejection.(8)
The provision
of Article I (2) includes refugees as those who flee war-torn
countries. It was not applied in Egypt until 2003.(9)
As a result,
tens of thousands of immigrants of all nationalities, who could
not return because they had fled persecution and are refugees,
have been forced to live in Egypt illegally.(10)
Significantly
— to understand the current crisis in Cairo — in May 2004, the
UNHCR stopped conducting individual interviews with newly arrived
Sudanese refugees, instead issuing them yellow cards, indicating
they were asylum seekers. The card grants the right to residency,
but rights to medical services are limited to emergencies, and
only about one thousand children of these asylum seekers are
assisted in attending school (see below). Of course, once the
UNHCR closed on September 29, 2005, when the protest began, no new
arrival could register.
Moreover,
the UNHCR only counts those it has recognized as refugees.
In December 2005, these numbered only 18,870.
(11)
This number fails
to account for unregistered refugees, those with yellow cards, and
unrecognized refugees. This situation has a profound effect on
funding. As a consequence of such a gross underestimation of need,
the budgets of NGOs and the UNHCR suffer and no donors provide the
GoE with money to expand its infrastructure to absorb refugees.
Life
for Refugees in Cairo
 |
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Egyptian security forces clash with Sudanese refugees at the Mustafa Mahmoud Park outside the offices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR). |
Housing
Refugees live in some 25
locations throughout greater Cairo,(12)
and some areas, such as Arba
wa Nus, are squatter settlements that have little access to clean
water, electricity, or sanitation.(13)
While most poor Egyptians live
in rent-controlled housing, refugees must compete as all other
foreigners on the private rental market. Overcrowding of flats is
the consequence of the very high rents.
Education
Long before the GoE ratified the
1951 Convention, it entered reservations to Articles 20 and 22-24 of
the 1951 Convention, which grant the same rights to refugees as to
nationals with regard to elementary education, public relief, terms
of labor and social security, as well as Article 12 (1) relating to
personal status (in short, anything that would financially encumber
the GoE or, in the case of personal status law, contradict Shari`ah
law). However, in 1982, when the GoE finally did ratify the
Convention, none of these reservations were included
in the gazette.
(14)
As the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
which the GoE has ratified, supersedes any reservations on refugee
education, a number of decrees have been passed that give refugee
children of some nationalities the right to public education.(15)
But
most refugee children enrolled in primary school are attending
faith-based refugee schools that are not accredited even if they do
follow the Egyptian curriculum.(16)
Opportunities
for secondary, tertiary, and higher education are so limited to the
point where they are almost non-existent; a few NGOs provide
language and computer classes to a handful of refugees.
Livelihood
With no permission to work, refugees, like poor Egyptians, are
thrown into the informal economy.
(17)
There are shortages in the labor
market, domestic labor for women being the main one. But there are
very few opportunities for refugee men to work — street hawking,
construction, and farm labor are the main ones. A few get employed
in factories, or in Internet cafes because their languages are
needed to serve other refugee clients. All are subject to lower pay
than Egyptians for doing the same work and to arrest for working
illegally; hawkers are even more vulnerable.
Rather
than being a burden, from the moment of arrival refugees are consumers,
thereby contributing to the local economy. The burden of survival
falls almost entirely on the refugees themselves. Many refugees also
receive remittances from relatives abroad, sometimes even from
Sudan. Western Union offices have sprung up in areas where refugees
live. These have been estimated to account for several million US
dollars every year.
(18)
The UNHCR, through CARITAS, its implementing
partner, gives derisory amounts of money only to the most vulnerable
and recognized refugees, usually not even enough to
pay rent, the first priority. Food is the first thing to be
sacrificed; not surprisingly, malnutrition is rife among adults as
well as children. Unrecognized refugees usually hide their children
in their flats, increasing their risk of rickets.(19)
There are some
faith-based groups that dispense basic food rations or a couple of
Egyptian pounds to a few refugee families, but assistance is
woefully inadequate.
Access
to Health Services
Recognized
refugees have access to health services through CARITAS on a
cost-sharing basis. Refuge Egypt (based in All Saints Cathedral)
provides health care to new arrivals for a two-year period, as long
as they register within six months of their arrival. Few refugees
learn about this service before it is too late. Moreover, Muslim
refugees, probably the majority, are unlikely to feel comfortable
getting help from a church. Theoretically, refugees can seek
treatment in government facilities where costs are low. But
receiving such medical care involves other obstacles; government
hospitals may require identification documents which many
"closed file" refugees do not have, or access may be
limited due to real or perceived discrimination.
Resettlement
The
behavior of refugees sometimes exacerbates widespread
xenophobia; They have been accused of drinking alcohol and
damaging property. |
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The
bottom line of the protest, according to the UNHCR, was the demand
by those in the Mustafa Mahmoud Park for "resettlement"
to another country where their rights would be respected and where
they would not face racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and
abuse. America, Australia, and Canada are the main countries that
have quotas for refugees recognized under the 1951 Convention
to which refugees can be referred by the UNHCR in Egypt. Each
country has its own criteria for acceptance and makes the final
decision; since 9/11, decisions take much longer because of
security checks.
(20)
The UNHCR has only met the quota once, in 2004,
but even then, the number of refugees who have a chance to be
resettled are minute. Refugees holding Yellow Cards, which, as
noted, indicate that they are seeking asylum and their status has
not been determined, have no hope.
Challenges
to Co-Existence in Egypt
Since
the vast majority of refugees will never be resettled, integration
in Egypt is of great concern. Despite the rhetoric about Egypt and
Sudan being "one country," the reality on the ground is
quite different. The distinct Arabic dialects of Sudan can render
even limited communication difficult, and a great many Southern
Sudanese and Darfurians do not even speak an Arabic dialect. Most
of the other refugees in Egypt come from countries where Arabic is
not spoken.
(21)
Cultural
tensions have run high. Refugees report distrust of Egyptians, a
feeling that is manifest in a rumor that organ theft is common in
Egyptian hospitals. At the same time, the behavior of refugees
sometimes exacerbates widespread xenophobia in Egypt. This goes
far beyond petty quarrels between neighbors — refugees have been
accused of drinking alcohol, venting their frustrations in public,
and damaging property.
Racial
discrimination is rampant in Egypt but is consistently denied, and
there are no laws against incitement to racial hatred. Racism is
expressed casually in Egypt through actions and racial slurs such
as samara, chocolata, and honga bonga, but
very often it also involves brutal physical attacks.
Sexual
harassment is ubiquitous; in Egypt it affects all women.
The National Council for Women, among other groups, has begun a
campaign against it. However, sometimes black women are regarded
as prostitutes and are particularly vulnerable. Because they are
working illegally, domestic and other refugee workers are usually
underpaid and often accused of theft and handed over to the
police.
Rumors
are rife within poor Egyptian society about the benefits that
refugees receive from NGOs and the UNHCR, and Egyptians deeply
resent those who manage to get resettled. Indeed, many Egyptians
(and other refugees) believe that the protestors benefited
financially from staying in the Mustafa Mahmoud Park.
Conclusion
The
three months sit-in demonstration that ended on December 30 is
only the most recent and most visible example of a situation that
has been brooding for years. Egypt should be commended for its
enormous patience in allowing the refugees to express their
grievances, and for so long. The UNHCR's culpability in asking for
the action that took place on December 30 aside, the GoE is
ultimately responsible for refugees, whether or not it has
delegated its role to this international body with the refugee
mandate. Egypt urgently requires domestic legislation that
includes granting refugees their human rights. Most urgently, it
requires leadership from the very top to increase all Egyptians'
understanding of their obligations under the conventions to extend
the hospitality, for which Egypt is so well-known, to refugees
too.
Barbara
Harrell-Bond is currently a Distinguished Visiting
Fellow at the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Programme,
American University in Cairo. She was the founder/director of the
Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford (1982-1996).
In 2005 she was awarded an OBE for her contribution to refugee
studies. She is author of Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance
to Refugees and co-author with Guglielmo Verdirame of Rights
in Exile: Janus-Faced Humanitarianism, published in 2005.
(1)
And a Memorandum of Agreement with the GoE since that date which
has never been revised.
(2)
Presidential Decree No. 188, 1984.
(3)
Instead of issuing a refugee card, the GoE stamped the residency
permission in the recognized refugee’s passport. If a refugee
had no passport, he or she could be issued a Convention Travel
Document.
(4)
The UNHCR is involved in RSD in more than 60 countries. See www.rsdwatch.org
for a critique of its procedures.
(5)
A complicated process that necessitates lists being forwarded to
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then on to the Mugamma (building
in Cairo containing offices for residency and citizenship).
Refugees must visit both offices, sometimes many times, in order
to obtain the stamp.
(6)
This woman, after four years, finally got the phone number of
AMERA, an NGO that provides pro bono legal aid for refugees, and
it took up her case.
(7)
This was the date of the attempt to assassinate President Mubarak
for which Sudanese were allegedly responsible. Evidence that the
GoE is trying to deal in a principled way with the terrible
aftermath of the December 30, 2005, expulsion of the protestors
outside the UNHCR office, is that a refugee was released on
January 3, 2006, from the Abu Zaabal Detention Center even though
his UNHCR file was "closed" because he had arrived in
Egypt in 1993!
(8)
After considerable criticism, the UNHCR attaches a code to the
rejection listed on its notice board, e.g. LOC, Lack of
Credibility. A lawyer attempting to write an appeal needs a
crystal ball.
(9)
It was not until 2003 that UNHCR "remembered" that the
GoE was party to the OAU Convention. In Article I (1), it
incorporates the definition of a refugee from the 1951 Convention
and adds para. 2: "The term refugee shall apply to every
person who owing external aggression, occupation, foreign
domination, or events seriously disturbing public order in either
part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality is
compelled to leave his place of habitual residence to seek refugee
in another place outside his country of origin or
nationality."
(10)
See Grabska, K. 2005. "Living on the Margins: The Analysis of
the Livelihood Strategies of Sudanese Refugees with Closed Files
in Egypt." Working paper No. 6, Forced Migration and Refugee
Studies Program, American University in Cairo.
(11)
Statistics provided by the UNHCR Cairo office on January 2, 2006.
(12)
Some live in Alexandria and a few manage to find employment in
agriculture and the tourist industry and are scattered around
Egypt.
(13)
Arba wa Nus is inhabited by equally poor Egyptians who have been
displaced from rural Egypt by "development" projects or
poverty.
(14)
That is, included in the published law which renders it
implemented. However, no one, not even the UNHCR, has sought to
remedy the extant situation and everyone concerned with refugees
behaves as though they do not have these rights which were
"reserved" earlier.
(15)
There are enormous documentary obstacles to refugee children
enrolling in a public school. See Badawy, T. 2005. "The Right
of Refugee Children to Education in Egypt." unpubl. mss.
(16)
Ibid.
(17)
With the exception of PLO members and those who worked in the
administration in Gaza, Palestinians must have work permits or
evidence that they are in school to get their travel documents
renewed. See Oroub, A. 2003. "The Unprotected Palestinians of
Egypt: An Investigation of Livelihoods and Coping
Strategies." unpubl. mss. Forced Migration and Refugee
Studies Program, American University in Cairo.
(18)
See Al Sharmani 2003. "Livelihood and Identity Constructions
of Somali Refugees in Cairo." FMRS Working paper No ?
and Grabska, K. 2005 "Living on the Margins: The Analysis of
the Livelihood Strategies of Sudanese Refugees with Closed Files
in Egypt." Working paper No. 6, Forced Migration and Refugee
Studies Program, American University in Cairo.
(19)
Ironically, rickets is a ubiquitous disease in Cairo "where
the sun always shines," because there are few places for
children to play in this busy city. Refugees also suffer high
rates of tuberculosis as a result of overcrowding.
(20)
Although Canada and Australia also allow for private sponsorship.
(21)
See Calvani, D. 2003. "Initial Overview of the Linguistic
Diversity of Refugee Communities in Cairo." Working Paper No.
4, Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Program, American
University in Cairo.
