Migration and Integration in Cairo

In the last decades, Egypt has increasingly become a destination country for irregular migration as well as a transit country for migrants coming mainly from Sub-Saharian Africa en route to Europe, transiting through Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Three kinds of migrants arrive to Egypt, and especially Cairo. Integration will be analyzed according to the different groups.

Firstly, Cairo has become an important center for asylum seekers. According to the UNHCR, Cairo accommodates one of the five largest refugee populations living in urban areas anywhere in the world. According to the number of applications received by the UNHCR, the number of migrants in the city is estimated between 300 thousands to 3 million. However, only 86 thousands refugees were recognized by the UNHCR in 2005. According to the UNHCR, Palestinians form the largest group, followed by refugees from Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea. However, many of these migrants are not granted the refugee status and do not benefit from the sponsorship programs conducted by Canada, Australia or USA. Therefore, they stay in Egypt, mainly in Cairo (Nassar, 2009: 74), in the poor neighborhood of Arba’a wa Nuss (also known as Ezbat al-Haggana) . Most of the migrants that reside here are Sudanese, especially black African Christians that fled Sudan to escape the war. Without refugee status it is almost impossible to obtain a work permit. Therefore, this group suffers from unemployment and those who find a job, often experience salaries being withheld, month after month, under threats of being reported to the police if they complain. These problems are worsened due to the marginalization and xenophobia that they experience. Organizations that promote refugee’s rights such as the ecumenical association Joint Relief Ministry (JRM) or the Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies of the American University in Cairo have pointed out that even though important efforts are being done to promote integration, Sudanese still experience social exclusion, racism and media defamation. In this situation, many actors have claimed that refugees are granted resettlement. It is true that resettlement is not a refugee right. However, as Sperl (2001) affirms,

“… [but] the reality of refugee life in Cairo mitigates strongly in favour of maintaining the resettlement option…local integration is not possible nor does UNHCR have the funds to provide adequate support locally at this stage. Resettlement is, in fact, the only concrete solution the Office has to offer at the present time”

Anita Fabos, former director of the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Programme (currently the Centre for Migration and Refugee Studies) considers Egypt has not yet learned to develop integration policies that take into account the reality that Egypt is a multi-cultural society. According to Fabos, the Egyptian state, the media, and society in general, face the challenge of recognizing the right of foreigners to basic services.

Moreover, the closing of the Refugee Status Determination after the end of the Sudan war in 2004, has created a non exit situation for migrants arriving from Darfur. Darfur migrants and other Sudanese asylum seekers are essentially trapped in Egypt, unable to return to Sudan for fear of persecution and unable to attain official refugee status from the UNCHR.

Secondly, Cairo accounts for high rates of internal migration from Upper Egypt. This internal migration is labor migration from an area that is considered to be underdeveloped, poor, and more traditionally religious. This perception about the Upper Egyptians is reflected in the relation that inhabitants in Cairo have towards the newcomers. Several factors make it difficult for the migrants to integrate in the city. For instance, Miller (2005) considers that one of the major obstacles is the linguistic features of the Upper Egyptians that differ from those of the habitants of Cairo. Zohry (2002), a prominent scholar in the field of migration in Egypt, has also mentioned economic and social causes of exclusion including labor exploitation, low wages, difficulties in accessing the housing market, child labor and lack of education, their migration goals, etc. Upper Egyptians are often motivated to emigrate to Cairo because of the presence of family members and networking, possibilities to get a government position, etc. There is also a group of migrants that see their move to Cairo as a transitory step before emigrating to Gulf countries. In this situation, several associations work in promoting the integration of these migrants in Cairo. For instance, Citizens for Development Foundation that collaborates with the “Sustainability in Development Projects: Joint Egyptian-Cypriote Initiative,” which aims to promote development in the Upper Egypt as a means to reduce the migratory flows; the IOM office in Cairo; and the Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance that provides with legal and psychological support working in coordination with refugees associations and other NGOs, etc. In the academic sphere, migration and integration is being studied by the research center Egyptian Society for Migration Studies (EGYMIG) or the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies.

Finally, there is a high percentage of migrants from other countries such as Somalia, or Sub-Saharan countries that use Cairo as a stepping stone before emigrating to the EU through Georgia, Cyprus or Turkey. Other Arab migrants stay in Cairo before migrating to Saudi Arabia, mainly, but also to other Gulf states.

References

• Darfur Australia Network (2007). Background Briefing: Sudanese Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Cairo, January 2007, p. 5. Retrieved from http://www.darfuraustralia.org/files/Sudanese%20Refugees%20and%20Asylum%20Seekers%20in%20Cairo.pdf/
• Miller, C. (2005). Between accommodation and resistance : Upper Egyptian migrants in Cairo. Conference “Language, migration, and the city”, Bayreuth , ALLEMAGNE (25/11/2001)vol. 43, no 5.
• Nassar, Heba (2009). Egypt: the demographic and economic dimension of migration. CARIM Mediterranean Migration Report 2008-2009, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, San Domenico di Fiesole (FI): European University Institute.
• UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2005
• Sperl, S. (2001). Evaluation of UNHCR’s Policy on Refugees in Urban Areas: A Case. Study Review of Cairo. (EPAU 2001/07).
• Zohry, A. (2003). The place of Egypt in the regional migration system as a receiving country. Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales (REMI), 19 (3), pp. 129-149.
• Zohri, A. (2002). Rural-to-Urban Labour Migration: A Study of Upper Egyptian Labourers in Cairo, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Sussex.