3 - Egypt

Summary

Since the 1990s international organizations and NGOs have provided services for refugees and migrants in Egypt, thereby bringing in international funding that also translates into development funding for the broader Egyptian populace. Even while refugees deal primarily with non-governmental actors for basic services and international protection, they must still go directly to Egyptian authorities to obtain legal residence in the country, making these populations legible to the state. Following the 2011 revolution and the 2013 military coup, a policy of strategic indifference gave way to a more repressive policy that first targeted Syrian refugees and eventually extended to all migrant and refugee nationalities. While a repressive policy required additional expenditures on the part of the Egyptian state, the use of these resources was considered necessary to construct and uphold the regime’s security state, whereby the issue of migration was coupled with terrorism, trafficking, and smuggling. Chapter 3 explores the impact this association has had on human rights organizations attempting to advocate for or assist migrants and refugees, as well as implications for the everyday livelihoods of migrants and refugees themselves.