Syrian refugees treated as equals in Egypt, insulted and used to extort Europe by Turkey

Shaimaa Hefzy

While Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is using Syrian refuges as a pressure card against European Union countries to reap more political gains and Ankara launched armed operations in Syria, the situation in Idlib is witnessing a sharp escalation of tension between the Turkish forces stationed there and the Syrian government forces fighting against militants in the area.

The Turkish government is implementing the deportation process under the orders of the Turkish president, whereby refugees are detained and forced to sign papers requiring their return to areas still witnessing battles, such as Idlib.

The Turkish authorities have also launched deportation campaigns more than a month ago for Syrian refugees, whether to the provinces where they applied for asylum or even to Syrian territory. This has sparked criticism against Ankara.

Profit and leverage

For years, Turkey obtained financial aid from Europe within the program to assist refugees and prevent them from flowing to Europe. This was suitable for Erdogan to deepen relations with Europe and gain popularity. But after the Turkish regime profited from the refugee file, it abandoned the refugees and opened its borders to wishing to flee to Greece, without looking at the consequences or the danger facing them.

The Turkish authorities require Syrians to register with them in order to obtain temporary protection status, and the number of Syrians in Turkey has been steadily increasing since 2011. But Syrian refugee camps in Turkey are officially called “temporary residence centers”.

These centers are located in the regions of Urfa, Adana, Kilis, Kahramanmaraş, Hatay, Osmaniye and Gaziantep. More than 87,000 Syrian refugees live in these centers, according to statistics from July 2019.

Refugees face unimaginable difficulties returning to Syria, which is subject to an international conflict between Russian, Iranian, US and Turkish forces, as well as terrorist and jihadist militias.

More than 65,690 people left for resettlement countries with the assistance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2019, and Turkey ranked first in terms of the number of refugees who left (10,558), followed by Lebanon (8,359) and Jordan (5,501).

Syrians in Egypt are guests, not refugees

As for the situation of Syrian refugees in Egypt, it is the complete opposite. According to UNHCR data, the Egyptian government gives refugees and asylum seekers of all nationalities access to primary and secondary health care on an equal basis with Egyptian citizens. Moreover, Syrian, Sudanese and Yemeni asylum seekers are granted full access to formal education opportunities, which UNHCR expects to continue in 2020.

The Syrians are considered the most sought-after segment in Egypt, which treats them as guests, not refugees. Egypt has received asylum claims from 58 nationalities. Despite the economic conditions that Egyptians have been experiencing since the 2011 revolution and the increase in commodity prices, Syrians are able to integrate into society, work, and even have their own business.

In 2019, UNHCR warned that the necessary support for refugees in Egypt is under severe pressure due to the high number of arrivals and insufficient resources.

Ongoing conflicts in Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa have forced more people to flee to Egypt, and the number of refugees and asylum seekers registered in Egypt has increased by 24% over the past two years, according to UNHCR.

Meanwhile, a UNHCR report said that the current refugee programs in Egypt – aimed at helping and protecting a quarter of a million refugees, more than half of whom are Syrians, as well as others from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan and Yemen – receive only 4% of the funding.