CAIRO: With the volatile situation in Somalia, the influx of refugees is increasing and Egypt is a potential destination. The Cairo office of the Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) issued a statement this week asking whether the Somalis fleeing the violence would seek refuge in Egypt.
Rough estimates indicate that Egypt is home to about 3,000 Somali refugees. Considering the lack of statistics, the actual number is expected to be much higher.
With the continuous violence in Somalia, citizens are leaving in large numbers. On Aug. 14, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that at least 100 Somalis were arriving daily into northeast Kenya, noting that about 1,800 people had arrived during the second week of August alone.
According to the UN’s Integrated Regional Information Network, the office of the UNHCR in Kenya reported, “Many [of the arriving Somalis] said they lost relatives in the fighting, and the UN is “concerned that if the security situation in Somalia does not improve we may have bigger numbers arriving.
With a weak government failing to assume control, a violent power struggle has taken place between two parties: the Islamic courts on one side and clan-based warlords on the other. In June 2006 the courts won a four-month battle against a union of warlords (who were reportedly backed by the U.S.) and gained control of the capital Mogadishu and surrounding areas.
As the government s requests for international troops continue, it relies on the armies of other neighboring countries. While the presence of these foreign military forces in Somalia can t be confirmed, their presence is thought to be likely. These foreign troops have been met with strong resistance by the courts and it is believed that this issue might cause the conflict within Somalia to escalate or expand into a regional war between Ethiopia and Eritrea and their respective supporters.
Geographical proximity makes countries like Kenya and Yemen top destinations for Somali refugees. But according to AMERA officials, Egypt has its advantages. Instead of tents and camps, refugees are merged with urban society, living in houses inside cities.
Yet, many find the news of a potential influx of African refugees troublesome. While many are occupied with the Lebanese crisis and some are even busy collecting donations for the war-torn country; the issue of refugees remains problematic. The Sudanese refugee crisis is still looming on the horizon.
Last December a three-month-long Sudanese refugee sit-in ended in bloodshed. As refugees camped in front of the UNHCR office in Mohandiseen in increasing numbers, many citizens expressed their dismay at the uninvited guests in their neighborhood. As the UNHCR couldn t meet the demands of the increasing Sudanese protestors, local police intervened to disperse them. The violent intervention left more than 25 dead. The incident left many organizations condemning the event and independent investigative reports laying the blame on local police and UNHCR officials.
But, AMERA officials explain, the country is well prepared to handle the expected Somali refugees. The mechanism is capable of receiving their influx, officials add.
Although the exact numbers can t be predicted at the moment, AMERA officials say the numbers wouldn t exceed that of refugees of other nationalities, such as the Sudanese, for example. To further put the numbers in perspective, the Sudanese refugees in last December s infamous sit-in exceeded 3,000, which is the estimate for the total number of Somali refugees in Egypt.
The UNHCR official responsible for issues regarding the Somali refugees was not available to comment on the organization s preparations for the potential influx.
For its part, AMERA offers legal assistance and aid to refugees. It was founded as a UK charity in January 2003, to promote the development of pro bono legal aid for refugees in countries where such services are non-existent and where legal representation could assist them in realizing their rights, reads the organization s official Web site. The awareness of this need came out of several years of research in Africa and the Mediterranean region that exposed the appalling conditions in which most refugees live and the failure of states to protect them.
In 2004, AMERA-UK’s first act was to raise funds to establish AMERA-Egypt, which now incorporates the Refugee Legal Aid Project in Cairo, which had been operating first though the American University in Cairo, and then under the auspices of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR). AMERA-Egypt registered as a foreign NGO in Egypt, continues the Web site, AMERA UK continues to raise funds for AMERA-Egypt and also exercises a supervisory role.
AMERA-Egypt’s legal advisers and interns help asylum seekers to present their cases for [refugee status determination] before the UNHCR. AMERA-Egypt’s work also involves: handling appeals and resettlement claims; dealing with security and detention issues; working with unaccompanied minors; advising on sexual and gender based violence (SGBV); assisting in social work projects and providing training on refugee law.
