Egypt - Israel - refugees
Egypt, port of call for African refugees
Tuesday 26 August 2008
Eritrean refugees fleeing dictatorship find precarious shelter in Egypt. For some, their stay in Cairo is only a stage in their journey to Israel, a destination more and more African refugees choose despite the many dangers this journey entails.
Tuesday 26 August 2008
By Ygal Saadoun, Karim El Fawal, Victoria HazouThree years ago, fearing persecution by the Eritrean regime, Hamed fled his homeland to seek asylum in Egypt. A journalist in Eritrea, he now earns his living in construction. Hamed’s status as a refugee prevents him from working legally. Hence, like thousands of other African refugees and migrants living in Egypt, he must earn his living illegally.
In addition to finding work, Hamid obtained refugee status. Thousands of Eritreans have entered Egypt unlawfully, but, according to Michael Kagan, a defender of refugees and asylum seekers’ rights, so far this year over 1000 have been deported.
We meet up with Hamed at his home in downtown Cairo. He shares this run-down flat with three other refugees. Hamed hasn’t seen his wife or his three children for three years. They are in Sudan and he won’t leave Egypt for fear of being denied re-entry.
Yasser is Sudanese and he has only one goal on his mind, to leave and go north by whatever means necessary. Israel is the first choice of most Africans. We show Yasser images of people crossing the border into Israel illegally. The images, taken by a smuggler on a cellular telephone, make him grin.
Like the vast majority of migrants in Egypt he swears he has never thought of making the voyage. But, judjing by the number of asylum seekers in Israel, clearly many are still willing to make this journey. A journey which, since the beginning of 2008, has cost more than 20 people their lives.
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