Why Support Refugee

Education in Cairo, Egypt?

A Call to the International Community

El-Wafaa Refugee Culture Centre Abdel Rahman Siddiq – Executive Director

Matt Hanson – Outreach and Media

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Reasons Why: 1. There are 35,000+ African refugees officially registered with the

UNHCR in Egypt. The majority of asylum-seekers are unregistered. For many African migrants, Egypt poses harsher conditions than their countries of origin.

2. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) argues against further African migration to Egypt. The Government of Egypt provides nothing. Services provided by the UNHCR, NGOs, and academia are sorely insufficient.

3. El-Wafaa Refugee Culture Centre provides services (e.g. language training) so people can safely transition from Egypt and into a more hospitable environment. The mission statement of the El-Wafaa Centre is to alleviate suffering of vulnerable refugee communities in urban areas.

4. The 2013-2014 El-Wafaa Budget covers the rent and office resources for the centre in Maadi (a neighborhood in Cairo). Also, the budget will be used to pay staff for their dedication to programming and outreach services.

“UNHCR staff in Egypt do not view resettlement as a good option because, like the Government of Egypt (GoE), they fear resettlement could attract African refugees to Egypt. This leaves repatriation as the only durable solution for most refugees.” (WikiLeaks to The Telegraph)

“It is disappointing that the environment for the displaced people is far from safe. There have been numerous reports of Sudanese refugees and asylum-seekers being held captive and kidnapped.[v] Those who are kidnapped face brutal atrocities, threats, torture, and even death.” (International Justice Project, 2013)

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35,180 African refugees are officially registered in Egypt (UNHCR, 2013) Learn More:

EGYPT: Thousands of refugees miss out on UNHCR living allowance (IRIN) Black Egyptians decry daily racism (Al Jazeera) Conditions of refugees from Darfur in Israel, Egypt and Syria (IJP)

“African refugees and economic migrants generally live in

Cairo's toughest neighbourhoods, sharing dirty toilets and

stinking alleyways with Egypt’s poorest citizens.” (IRIN)

A Brief History

Our focus is on those refugees

(registered and unregistered),

asylum seekers, and forced migrants

who currently experience

oppressive marginalization in the

inhospitable host country of Egypt,

which made reservations to

international refugee laws chartered

by the UNHCR Refugee

Convention (1951), also known as

the Geneva Convention. Egypt's

reservations withhold national

responsibility with regard to

refugees within their country

accessing basic public services and

humanitarian assistance, including

education and employment. There

are no refugee camps in Egypt due

to limited land resources. African

peoples seeking asylum in Egypt

continue to be unjustly

marginalized based on political

racial/ethnic and religious identity.

(Refugees.org)

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Egypt is one of the largest recipients of refugees from the African continent. It hosts almost 4 million refugees from 28 countries, including 10,000 from Darfur.[iii]

(IJP)

El-Wafaa Refugee Culture Centre was founded in 2006 in

Ain Shams, a neighborhood in the outskirts of Cairo (known for its

African migrant population) by a group of committed Darfurian

community leaders in order to address challenges within the refugee

population in Cairo, initially focusing on refugees from Darfur.

Initiated by local community members within the African forced

migrant population of Cairo, El-Wafaa Centre was founded in

September 2006, with the assistance of Student Action for Refugees

(STAR), a student-run organization at the American University of

Cairo. Efforts by the UN, NGOs, and other service providers in Cairo

have proven inadequate, yet leaders from the community are stepping

up with unparalleled promise.

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“Aided by Abdel-Rahman Siddiq, the center’s manager, classes saw enrollment reach as many as 90 students before the end of the academic year. In total, nearly 300 students benefitted from the program.” (Forced Migration and Refugee

Studies at the American University in Cairo – Report of Activities 2006-2007, page 39)

Abdel Rahman Siddiq, Executive Director of El-Wafaa Centre is from Darfur, Sudan,

holding a post-secondary degree in English from Sudan. He is a respected and humble grassroots leader,

known by his own community as teacher. Abdel Rahman's humanitarianism is far-reaching and all-inclusive,

welcoming students into the (refugee) education center – also serving as a cultural and community resource

center – regardless of ethnicity, religion or politics. Notwithstanding our focus on African refugees, their is a

great need to support those community leaders local to the cause who appreciate and enable the sustainable

establishment of human rights organizations providing indispensable services to any and all people in Egypt.

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“Neither African nor Iraqi refugees or migrants see Egypt as a desirable place to live. Africans, in particular, face racial discrimination, little chance for resettlement, and few job opportunities except for women to work as domestic servants.”

“According to UNHCR, approximately 2,000 migrants, primarily from Sudan, Eritrea, and Ethiopia enter Egypt every month. He said most do not register with UNHCR, but instead try to make their way to Europe or Israel.”

(WikiLeaks to The Telegraph)

Transparency

Web-based multimedia platform updated with El-Wafaa newsletters

Community research and liaison with the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies department at AUC

Regular teleconference appointments with El-Wafaa directorship, staff and community with international donors and networks

Accountability

Regular 3-month reports formally issued to donors and international network updating on resource allocation in Cairo

Partnerships with leading figures in foreign aid and refugee rights, e.g. Barbara Harrell-Bond, founder of Refugee Studies at Oxford University and Samantha Nutt, author of Damned Nations

Sustainability

Enriching local leaders to access a broader resource base, while focusing independent means as primary

Three year assessment program, after which community-based participatory research will survey the degree of dependence on external resources

Success is an operative, autonomous center

El-Wafaa Refugee Culture Centre Abdel Rahman - Abdelkaro_siddiq@yahoo.com

Matt Hanson - mhanson1717@yahoo.com

“The traffickers chain together groups of men and women; pour molten plastic on their bodies; deprive them of food, water and sleep; subject them to vicious beatings and electric shocks; and force them to smoke hashish and rape one another, according to survivors interviewed by The Washington Times.

They forced us to behave like animals,” Mr. Habte said in a phone interview from Cairo, where he was released in May after his sister in Australia paid a $40,000 ransom.

In Eritrea, Mr. Habte was persecuted because of his religion.”

(Washington Times, July 21, 2013)

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/jul/21/in-sinai-i-saw-hell-refugees-are-easy-prey-for-bru/#ixzz2ZxhB8vWi

Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Current Centre Needs in Maadi, Cairo:

2013-2014 Budget

Centre Rent

Office Resources

External Programs