In Egypt, several issues do not have enough attention. Refugee
issues in Egypt are not usually publicly discussed and even if this happens, it
hardly goes in the right direction.
Due to its position, Egypt receives a lot of refugees and
asylum seekers who aim to stay in Egypt or only to transit until they leave to
another country. Those refugees and asylum seekers leave their countries for various reasons, such as fleeing war and armed conflict, political instability or prosecution. They come from different directions; the majority
of which come from Sudan followed by Iraq, Somalia and Eritrea and other
countries. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),
there are approximately 40,000 registered refugees in the country, from 38
different nationalities. Not all refugees are registered with UNHCR however, so
the real number is very much higher and may reach millions.
Recently, Youm 7 newspaper carried a daring and shocking investigation in Sinai and revealed the horrors that
refugees are subjected to there. The investigation shed light on the African
refugees who seek to enter Israel through Sinai are subjected to torture, rape and killings by organized criminal groups in Sinai. Those criminals engage in organs trafficking taken from the refugees’ bodies. The details and images were really
harrowing and definitely caused a controversy.
CNN also made a report called "Death in the Desert" about the same issue which caused an international media buzz.
The investigation stirred many reactions. Some Egyptian media reported on it. African media in Sudan and Eritrea also reported on it and human right groups there called for further investigations and for the Egyptian state to interfere to protect the lives
of those refugees. Egyptian human rights groups also called the results of the investigation a scandal and demanded immediate intervention. UNHCR also “expressed concern” over the reports and claimed
that they haven’t received any previous complaints regarding the issue.
Egyptian human rights organizations have raised concerns about torture, rape and human trafficking of African refugees in Sinai before,
but officials didn’t want to admit it or take any actions. The situation seems to continue as it is and
our government doesn’t want to intervene to stop this tragedy.
Unfortunately, we have a bad history in dealing with
refugees in Egypt. Refugees leave their countries running away from wars, prosecution or dire economic conditions to face other hardships in Egypt. Egypt
has signed 1951 Refugee Convention, but it had reservations and there’s a de facto ban on accessing employment and formal education for refugees. Obviously, Egypt
already has a struggling economy and high unemployment rate which makes it
hard for our government to provide services to refugees.
The Sinai horrors are not the first of a kind for refugees in Egypt. In December 2005, Egyptian security forces attacked a protest camp that was set up by Sudanese protesters in Mostafa Mahmoud Square which caused the murder of about 30 refugees including women and children, other were also deported and detained, which was also reported on in the Egyptian blogosphere.
