Palestinians struggle for recognition, threatened in Egypt

Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. © Hani Naim - IBTimes

You can listen to sources quoted in this article speaking in this audio clip (in Arabic). 

By: Reem Gehad

“The employee [at the Egyptian passport authority] took my [Palestinian refugee] travel document and told me ‘this is not a passport, do not say that this is a passport’ and he threw it on the desk,” Nadia Khalifa, a 53-year-old Palestinian woman said.

Denied a homeland and forced to live for decades in often disadvantaged “refugee camps” in neighboring Arab countries, Palestinians coming from war-stricken Syria are faced with a new identity hardship in Egypt.

Khalifa came on her own to Egypt in July 2012 when Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s planes bombarded her street in the Yarmouk camp, south of Damascus, which has been home to over 100 thousand Palestinian refugees since 1957.

"They're saying the ambassador will come out to talk to us, I'll wait, you won't bear the heat, but I will – after all why not?" Khalifa told young girls when they asked her to go home with them. They had been standing in a protest in front of the Palestinian Embassy in Dokki, Giza, for the second time demanding it interferes to help them legally stay in Egypt.

Like most Palestinian-Syrians who arrived in Egypt since the outbreak of the 2011 Syrian conflict, Khalifa went to the Egyptian interior ministry’s Passport, Immigration & Nationality Authority (PINA) to gain a residency permit.

“After four months of visiting the office, they rejected my application,” she said.

About ten thousand Palestinian-Syrians arrived in Egypt since the start of the conflict in Syria, most of them coming from the Yarmouk Camp. They hold a “Palestinian refugee travel document” that is issued by the Syrian government.

Those who are not granted a residency permit in Egypt are faced with the threat to be deported at any time back to Syria. In addition, they stay in Egypt without work or access to basic services.

“Those with families, especially children who go to school, are usually granted a few-months permit,” said Abd El-Jabbar Bilal, a 42-year-old Palestinian lawyer who left Syria to Egypt last October.

“However, they are still not granted the right to work,” he explained, “I came with my wife and six children and received a six-months permit to stay, but I cannot work and my savings are about to end and when they do – how am I going to feed my family?”

“Despite that, however, it seems there isn't a clear policy on why a Palestinian is given the permit and for how long,” Bilal explained.

While he received a permit for six-months, others in a similar situation would gain a permit for a longer or shorter period of time. The process may also differ as some may wait for a long time to receive their acceptance.

“But if you do not have school children you do not have the right to stay at all,” he said.

Old men and women, young people who fled the country for being wanted by the Syrian regime – they are all denied the right to stay.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does not offer much help either as they are prevented by Egypt’s foreign ministry to register Palestinian refugees.

This isn’t the case for their Syrian counterparts who can be legally registered with the UNHCR, granting them protection from deportation and providing them with aid. In addition, Egypt issued a presidential decree last September granting various rights to Syrian refugees, including access to government schools. However, all this legislation and rights do not apply to the Palestinians who fled Syria.

“[The office] was instructed by the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs not to register Palestinian-Syrians,” a public information officer at the UNHCR, who refused to disclose their name, said.

The main organization that should be involved in dealing with Palestinian refugees in Egypt is the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees.

“Because Egypt is part of the UNRWA, we cannot really do anything more with the Palestinian refugees here,” the UNHCR representative said.

However, UNRWA only has a laision office in Cairo that does not offer much practical services to Palestinians here. To change this situation, Egypt would not to approve and a vote by the UN general assembly.  

The Palestinian-Syrian refugees blamed Palestinian Embassy in Cairo for worsening their situation, citing its “inaction” as the trigger for their protest in front of the embassy last April and again earlier in May. 

The demonstrators had called for their protest on a Facebook page titled “Do not kill us twice.” 

They put forward several demands, their first being that, “the Palestinian embassy should consider it a top priority to work with the Egyptian governmental entities and the UNHCR to solve the problems of the refugees in terms of recognition and equality with the Syrian refugees.”


The protesters also demanded that the embassy “should fulfill its duties towards the refugees in terms of providing them with medical aid, food and financial aid.”

The Palestinian embassy in Cairo released an official statement on 22 April saying that they have created a database for the refugees who fled Syria and have provided them with financial aid. However, Palestinian protesters say that this is false.

“I came with my wife last year,” Saleh Abd El-Aal said, “She suffers from diabetes and needs weekly medication. I cannot afford that anymore, and if I don’t manage she will just die.”

Abd El-Aal came from Yarmouk camp with his wife when the attack on the camp intensified.

“They bombed different parts at a time, when the fighting spread in the camp and it became more and more dangerous we had to leave,” he said.

He applied for a residency permit at PINA last January and was only granted four-months permit earlier in May.

“I had to go to the offices of National Security (El-Amn El-Watani) several times and was asked about my arrival in Egypt and what I plan to do,” he said.

Bilal explains that many Palestinian-Syrians choose Egypt as a refuge because other Arab countries constitute a different challenge for them.

“Iraq is marred by sectarian conflict for example and we know that Palestinians aren't at their best in Lebanon,” he commented, “We thought Egypt would be better.”

Yarmouk is the largest camp in Syria for Palestinians who were forced out of their lands in the 1948 Israeli occupation. It is located about eight kilometers south of Damascus’ city center.

The total number of Palestinians in Syria is estimated to be over 500 thousand people.

Palestinian-Syrians have been known to enjoy a lot of rights under Assad’s regime in Syria. Their situation is better than that of Palestinian refugees in neighboring Jordan or Lebanon. When the conflict waged in Syria, most of them decided to remain neutral. 

However, they were dragged into the strife and were forced to become part of it.  

Many displaced Syrians from the conflict had already arrived at the camp that was considered relatively safe in comparison to other places in Syria.

However, last August airplanes bombed the camp leaving at least 20 people dead, according to the United Nations.

In December, fierce fighting took place in the camp between pro-Assad Syrian Army and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (a pro-Assad group based in Yarmouk) on one hand and the Free Syrian Army and an anti-Assad Palestinian group in the camp called the Storm Brigade (Liwa Al-‘Asifa) on the other.

This has caused serious damage and has claimed many lives in the camps as a result, with thousands of its resients forced to leave it.

Concerns have been rising in Egypt over the intentions of Palestinians who arrive here, especially those coming from Gaza, amid unofficial claims that they plan to take Egypt as a home, staying here by force.

 “We used to struggle to get our [Palestinian] land back, now we are struggling to be called refugees,” Bilal said, “Is there any more humiliation than that?” 

Fleeing Syrians find few opportunities in cash-strapped Egypt

Syrian Protests (Photo: AP)

By: Reem Gehad 

(This article was originally published on Ahram Online's website on 4 April 2013)

A young man in his twenties stands at a stall selling Syrian textiles in a temporary market in Faisal Street, Giza, folding sheets and table-covers as a few customers ask about prices then leave.

Constantly haunted by the fear of being identified by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s watchmen, Syrians in Cairo repeatedly refrain from speaking to journalists, or – if partially reassured – refuse to disclose their full identity.

"I was imprisoned by Assad's forces, and when I came out they went after me again, so I left," the young man said.

He arrived in Egypt last October and it took him until February to find a job.

"I had about $3,000 with me when I first came to Egypt," he said. "I rented an apartment for three months in the Madinet Nasr district for LE2,500 (roughly $360). The owner also took another LE2,500 as a deposit, and with my own expenses, after three months, my money was gone."

"I left the apartment and I'm currently staying with a Syrian family. A friend of mine then helped me get my job with an Egyptian merchant who works with Syrian fabrics," he said.

The number of Syrians in Egypt is estimated to have exceeded one and a half million people, according to the Egypt-based Fard Foundation and the Committee for Syrian Refugee Affairs in Egypt.

Along with well-off Syrian professionals and businessmen, craftsmen, administrative employees and traders have also left their lives and homes in the conflict-wracked country. They were faced with the difficulties of starting new lives in Egypt, a country bogged down with its own political and economic crises.

Many Syrians find it difficult to find jobs with salaries proportionate to their expenses, especially as apartment rents are high in Cairo.

"My original work is carpentry," another young man who arrived with his family said. "But because manual labour is very cheap in Egypt, I couldn't work as a carpenter and eventually found a job with a Syrian textile merchant here."

He came with his wife, one-year-old son and his parents five months ago from Halab city, which has experienced considerable conflict during the ongoing turmoil. It took him about three months to find his job, which earns him LE2,500 monthly, and he pays about LE1,000 in rent for an apartment on Faisal Street where he lives with his family.

The Fard Foundation works with Syrian refugees in Egypt, particularly those who settled in 6 October City on the outskirts of Cairo. It offers them help finding residence, employment, legal help and medical care, along with providing other services.

"Syrians who had their own businesses usually try to reopen similar ones in Cairo," said Fard Foundation head Um Abdallah, who is half Syrian herself. "But those who do not have a skill or a craft are the ones who suffer the most."

This is especially the case when Egypt's unemployment rate stood at 13 percent in 2012.

Um Abdallah says that, for example, Egypt's Nile Delta city of Damietta has a large Syrian population that mainly came from the city of Saqba in the Damascus countryside. Like Damietta, Saqba is well known for its furniture industry and thus the majority of its residents opted for the Nile Delta city.

However, Um Abdallah said that some Syrians face tensions with their Egyptian peers when working in non-Syrian businesses.

"Syrians are known to be very hard working and so this creates competition between them and their Egyptian rivals, who try to put them out of work," she said. "So usually, they prefer to work with fellow Syrians."

Syrian trade

Many Syrians work at Syrian markets or 'exhibitions,' as they are called in Arabic, which are set up for a limited period of time and move from one place to another. They are usually divided into partitions for different merchants, and often specialise in textiles – a niche that Syrian tradesmen have become known for over the years.

Ahmed El-Homsi, a middle-aged man from the countryside near Damascus, sells traditional dresses and women's clothing at the Faisal market.

His wife and two daughters live in Alexandria, where house rents are cheaper. He is staying in an apartment shared with a number of Syrian men in Cairo.

"When I came to Egypt, I brought a supply of my goods left over from my original store in Syria," he said.

Products come in through the Suez Canal city of Port Said and merchants receive them there before bringing them to Cairo.

"However, now it is extremely difficult to get more products out of Syria. If this supply runs out, I will have nothing more to sell," he said.

His assistant, a young man, sat nearby speaking of the difficulties affecting his trade because he was not able to register himself with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"It is easier for families, especially those with children who go to school, to register as refugees and have an official right to stay," he said. "I came alone."

This in turn affects his ability to open a bank account in Cairo and use it for his business.

"I have to go in person to receive or deliver money around Cairo or even to Port Said," he said. "I am not allowed to use the bank."

El-Homsi and his assistant said they are looking at southern Europe, particularly Spain, as a new market from which they might import goods if Syria becomes impossible.

In Al-Ghouriya, a part of the historical Cairo district of Al-Azhar, several shops have been opened recently by Syrian traders to sell tablecloths, bed-covers, towels and other textiles.

"We opened our branch here in Cairo about four years ago," a Syrian shop owner in Al-Ghouriya said. "But after the situation in Syria escalated, several shops opened beside us here."

"It's all the better for us; we have become well-known and people come to see the Syrian shops," he added.

"However, we are having problems getting goods out of Syria," he said.  "We are not using the Damascus airport anymore; we usually use the seaport of Latakia, but this is also becoming more expensive and less secure. We thank God when goods arrive safely."

"We are importing more goods from Turkey at the moment, but the majority still comes from Syria," he added."Some people, depending on the capital they have, transfer their factories to Cairo – but not everyone is able to."

Syrians usually opt for businesses that are unique to them in order to succeed. Known to have one of the best cuisines in the Arab world, many have set up food businesses.

At El-Hossari Mosque in 6 October City, many Syrian vendors and shops have opened, offering patrons traditional pastries and desserts like baklavas, kunafeh and maamoul.

"Syrians would usually prefer any job to unemployment, and many are good at setting up small businesses," Um Abdallah said.

Struggling to create opportunities

Many Syrians, who do not have enough capital to start their own businesses or have a specific craft, resort to alternatives. One example is Abo Omar and his family who have been living in Alexandria for over a year.

Abo Omar, a 48-year-old man from Idlib in Syria, arrived in Egypt with his two wives and ten children in February of last year.

"We were actually travelling to Libya," he recounts. "We stopped in Saloum [on the Egypt-Libya border] because the borders were closed at the time."

There were about 100 Syrian families faced with the same situation in Saloum, according to Abo Omar.

"We stayed like this for about two weeks. The Salafist Call organisation provided us with places to live and came twice a week with supplies for the families," he said. "They later suggested that I should stay in Egypt, and I did."

Abo Omar used to be a lorry and bus driver back in Syria.

"I worked for a tourism company for 25 years. I was given a certificate which I brought with me to Egypt to show potential employers," he said.

"I went to many companies; they all told me my experience was excellent and promised to contact me, but they never did."

When asked why, Abo Omar answered: "A good lorry here costs about LE300,000 to LE400,000 and, you know, they would be afraid that a Syrian man might steal it and sell it."

Abo Omar then tried working on a microbus in Alexandria on the Asafra-Mansheya route, where he worked 12-hour shifts starting at 3am. However, because he suffers from back-pain, he stopped shortly after.

He then took a course with his eldest son, Omar, in mobile-phone repairs, and they are both currently working in a mobile-phone shop owned by an Egyptian man.

However, he also started his own business, engaging the women in his family.

They started a Syrian food business in Alexandria under the name 'We are producers, not refugees.'

The ladies in Abo Omar's family cook Syrian dishes, which are then delivered to customers.

"Everyone in my family works in the project – from buying material, cooking, finances and delivering," Abo Omar said.

"We make about four or five orders a day," Um Omar, his first wife, said. "But on other days, we don't make any orders at all."

Their eldest daughter, who used to take part in anti-Assad demonstrations back in Syria, and who asked not to disclose her name, said: "I go to school every morning, even though I already finished my education in Idlib; but they did not accept my certificate here, and when I come back home, I work in the kitchen until midnight with the others."

"Most customers like to buy traditional Syrian dishes, such as keibba, sheish barak and stuffed vine-leaves," Um Omar said.

Businessmen flee to Egypt

Many Syrian businessmen who have arrived in Egypt are expected to invest in their host country's economy.

"Several factory owners have dismantled their factories in Syria and shipped the equipment to Turkey, and then to Egypt, where they set them up again," Um Abdallah said.

Turkish news agency Anadolu reported last December that the top-ten Syrian businesses had all "fled to Egypt."

Syrian activist Khalil El-Egeili said that many of these businessmen prefer to invest in the stock market or deposit their money in Egyptian banks, according to Anadolu.

The news agency also reported that total Syrian investment in Egypt is currently estimated at between $400 million and $500 million.

As the violence persists in Syria, the number of Syrians in Egypt is expected to swell further. As they continue to arrive, they are faced with the difficulties of setting up new lives and new homes in a country struggling to provide for its own teeming population.