Life without a safety net: What it means to be a refugee
Egypt hosts more than 256,000 registered asylum-seekers and refugees from 56 different countries mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Refugees and asylum-seekers in Egypt are largely concentrated in Greater Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta, and several towns on the North Coast. In recent years, Egypt’s challenging economic conditions have considerably increased the vulnerability of both refugees and host community members.
Our Partner organization Refuge Egypt, a ministry of the Anglican Church in Egypt, provides immediate support in the form of food parcels and clothing for newly arrived refugees, as well as offering employment training and job placements to help them find their place in Egyptian society, as well medical care and treatment for those with chronic conditions or complicated pregnancies.
Here, our friend and partner Dr Eman Kamal, the organisation’s Medical Director, tells us more about the experience of refugees in Egypt and what we can do to help.
Recently an 18-year-old man named Ahmed stopped by our office. Ahmed is from Sudan. Growing up, he witnessed the atrocities of war and genocide in his village. Things Ahmed’s family had experienced led Ahmed’s brother to take his own life, leaving Ahmed traumatised.
Shortly after arriving in Cairo, Ahmed visited Refuge Egypt’s Humanitarian Department looking for financial help. You could see the emotional scars left on him by the war just from the look in his eyes. During his intake interview with our staff, it became apparent that Ahmed was also suffering from medical problems. With nothing to do with his time, Ahmed had lost all hope and direction in the future.
In addition to providing him with emergency food, the Humanitarian Department staff encouraged him to find work and connected him with our Job Placement Office. They also enrolled him in English language courses that would connect him with other refugees for community, and give him a goal to work towards. Ahmed enrolled in these classes and continues to attend today. Although change takes a long time, and doesn’t come easily, Ahmed is starting to take small steps towards creating a life for himself here in Egypt.
Unfortunately, Ahmed’s story is not uncommon. Most refugees fleeing their home countries - Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen and Syria - arrive in Cairo with little more than the clothes on their back. They have watched their villages being burnt down, women being sexually assaulted in front of them, and the murder of family and friends.
The psychological impact is great. They travel to Egypt by boat, or other means of transportation, often choosing to settle in a neighbourhood of Cairo where they have a friend or relative. There are no refugee camps in Egypt. Refugees are integrated into existing housing stock alongside Egyptians, sometimes with two or more households living together in a small two-bedroom apartment. With the exception of the lucky few who receive remittances from abroad, refugees must find work in the informal labour market in order to survive. Typically this is cleaning work or other domestic work inside the homes of Egyptians. Refugee children often attend overcrowded and under-resourced refugee-run learning centres, where they can receive their Sudanese secondary school diploma following Grade 11. Refugees face insults and harassment on the streets and discrimination from landlords and employers. Many refugees have lost hope for their lives here, and are awaiting resettlement abroad.
While in Egypt, refugees register with the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) office, with the hope of being resettled in the West. After receiving status as an asylum seeker, and later as a refugee, they go through a years-long process which includes interviews, background checks, and medical investigations. Unfortunately, resettlement spots are so limited that only a small percentage will ever get to travel, and those who do travel must wait ten years or more.
Refuge Egypt aims to help the transition and integration of refugees into Egyptian society, opening doors for refugees to live sustainably and with dignity and self-respect. Refugees come through our doors in times of greatest need, looking for a bag of food or a blanket. Our staff listen attentively and compassionately, trying to understand the individual’s experience and pain more deeply. They make internal, or external, referrals to other services to help build self-reliance, such as psycho-social support, medical care, or vocational and educational development opportunities.
At times, newcomer refugees simply need to access the pathways to vocational training and job placement to help them get on their feet. Others, such as single mothers, the chronically ill or severely traumatized, may need more ongoing assistance and extensive support. As foreigners, very few safety nets exist for refugees in Egypt, which makes them all the more vulnerable in crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic. A study done by the UNHCR and Caritas in Egypt showed that 42% of refugees lost their employment as a result of the pandemic, and 46% saw a reduction in income. Survey respondents also indicated that their most pressing concern was the ability to pay rent and the fear of facing eviction should they miss their rent payment (UNHCR Briefing Note, 3 December 2020).
With no savings or safety net to rely on, many refugees live on the edge financially, and are at risk of disaster in times of hardship. As is true with vulnerable populations around the world, refugees were the first to feel the economic impact of the pandemic in Egypt, and many have yet to recover. In times like these, without legal protection or safety nets, refugees depend on the generosity of friends and family, or the limited resources available to them through NGOs such as Refuge Egypt.
The pandemic has also impacted refugees psychologically. The refugees’ cultures are usually incredibly hospitable and generous, such that they would use their last penny to warmly welcome you into their home. The pandemic has left people isolated, and without the normal social interactions that people depend on as a source of hope and joy in their lives. Those suffering from mental health conditions, or chronic diseases such as TB and HIV, have been hit especially hard by the pandemic.
Refuge Egypt strives to welcome refugee newcomers and provide a listening ear to those who are suffering. We provide short-term emergency assistance and medical care in times of crisis, and the guidance to help refugees get on their feet and build a sustainable life for themselves in Egypt, through work and educational development opportunities. Please pray with us that the refugees who come through our doors would know the hope and joy of Jesus and find hope for the future.
This blog was written for us by Dr Eman Kamal, Medical Director at Refuge Egypt in Cairo.
