Protection Threats: Before the Revolution

2.5 Protection Threats: Before the Revolution

Iraqis: Live Largely Outside of Local Society

widows or women separated from their husbands or other male relatives; Egyptian men often harass them.

Iraqis reported to our research team that they live largely outside of local Egyptian society: they seek privacy from

I feel insecure every time I leave the house because I their neighbors, they tend to live on the outskirts of

am harassed and abused in the streets and in public the city, and they report perceptions that Egyptians are

transport systems. I am also afraid of being stopped potentially untrustworthy. Few reported direct threats to

by security officers and asked to show my ID. If I am their safety; only a few reported being victims of petty theft

not recognized by the UNHCR-Egypt as a refugee or street crime. Most frequently, Iraqis complained of being

I could be arrested and deported back home. And defrauded by Egyptian “business partners” who pledged to

now that the political situation in Egypt is not stable, open small businesses with Iraqis, only to disappear with

there is uncertainty as to what is going to happen the Iraqis’ investment funds. On the part of the Egyptians,

to me next or any other refugee for that matter. our team noted that Iraqis were blamed for affecting rent

A Somaili Woman increases and the cost of food. Iraqis also face a certain level

of discrimination due to Egyptians’ assumptions that all Iraqis are Shi’i. 7 In at least one instance reported to our team, a Shi’ Iraqi boy was harassed in his primary school on account of his

Even though I have a blue card [a UNHCR issued religious affiliation. Iraqis are distinctive from the Egyptian

identification card] and can live legally here in population on account of their dialect and thus can be “singled

Egypt, I experience a lot of harassment from the out” in conversations. Iraqis are not racially distinct from

local men everywhere I go and the only time I feel most Egyptians and thus do not experience racial prejudice.

safe and comfortable is when I am in the house.

A Sudanese Woman

Sudanese and East Africans: High Levels of

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Discrimination

Egyptians: Also Feel Insecure

In contrast, Sudanese and East African refugees report However, lack of security does not affect solely refugees.

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high levels of racial discrimination from the Egyptian Prior to the revolution, we heard many stories about

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population. Many authors have documented the frequent Egyptians fearing arrests, beatings by the police and,

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verbal abuse that Sudanese, East Africans and even in some circumstances, torture. The Nadim Center, for Egyptian Nubians experience in Egyptian society. Certain example, was established in 1993 to provide services to professions in which Sudanese and East African refugees Egyptian survivors of torture and victims of state violence work also expose them to a greater risk of physical, and police brutality. Reportedly, police used torture in

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verbal, sexual, and emotional abuse. Their employers, for Egypt quite frequently to obtain information from people example, often abuse domestic workers, and they have or recruit them to be informants. They often resorted to

CH2:

little recourse in Egyptian law and society (Jureidini 2006). torture to force people to provide witness testimony in

criminal cases. A psychiatrist we interviewed told us a story

In Arab and African societies, kinship and social linkages about a young boy who had been tortured because he was are quite important and serve as informal protection either implicated or had witnessed a murder in his village. mechanisms. Some refugees, Iraqis and others, are fortunate He was rounded up and severely beaten to “confess” that enough to have their families with them, providing some

he had seen the murderer the police was investigating. comfort and security. Most vulnerable are single women,