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Black Egyptians decry daily racism

Cairo, Egypt - When Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed first started receiving calls on his mobile phone from an unknown number telling him to leave Egypt, he ignored them. But when the threats against the Sudanese asylum-seeker increased and

Cairo, Egypt – When Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed first started receiving calls on his mobile phone from an unknown number telling him to leave Egypt, he ignored them.

But when the threats against the Sudanese asylum-seeker increased and he began to receive emails and Facebook posts with the same message – “Get out of the country” – he grew nervous.

A member of one of Sudan’s multitude of opposition groups, Mohamed tracked the messages back to a Sudanese embassy official – and took his concerns to the police. But he says the duty officer’s response was terse – “Why should I believe you?”. Other police stations also dismissed his fears.

“No one helps us. They never do,” Mohamed said.

Black, non-Arab Africans say the case reveals long-standing racism that threatens the security and livelihoods of Egypt’s sizeable sub-Saharan population. While refugees in the country face an overburdened and highly bureaucratic asylum system and aid organisations are underfunded and ill equipped to help them, non-Arab refugees face much more serious problems.

“You can be here 15 years as a recognised refugee and not for a moment of that will you ever be recognised legally or have a home,” said Christopher Eades, director of legal programming at AMERA, a British NGO for refugees.

Aid workers believe sub-Saharan refugees are treated by different informal rules than those of Arab origin – excluded from schools, facing hurdles opening businesses and finding work, and hampered in legal cases.

Refugee hurdles

Lengthy UNHCR registration processes mean most refugees in Egypt must remain in the country without identification or any means of subsistence for at least three years.

They are forced into the dark economy, working illegally at cafes, on construction sites, and in other manual jobs where abuse is routine and they have little protection in law.

“Even if you’re a recognised refugee, and you have a blue card, you have no right to medical treatment, no right to education, no right to work,” Eades said.

As far as the state is concerned, the refugees fall into a legal grey area where the government has no obligation to provide for them.

“Egypt is part of the Arab world, and any place in the Arab world is your home,” said Reda Sada El-Hafnawy, a member of the Shura Council’s Human Rights Committee and the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. “They are welcomed but we can’t put them under the protection of Egyptian law.”

El-Hafnawy insists: “There is no racism in Egypt, so if there’s abuse, it’s from the absence of the law.”

But aid workers and community organisers say otherwise – and believe not all refugees are created equal.

“When there was an influx of African refugees, there was no attention from the NGOs,” said Yagoub Hamdan a Sudanese refugee and community outreach leader at AMERA.

However, when Syrians began pouring into the country in late 2012, the UN set up mobile stations throughout Cairo and the rest of the country, Hamdan pointed out.

“Why did they do that for Syrians when we had the same problem?”

Hamdan and other community organisers say Islamic aid organisations provide ample support to Syrians and Libyans, but rarely to non-Arab Africans.

Christian organisations

Lack of state support means non-Arab African refugees are forced to turn towards smaller NGOs and Christian organisations.

But lack of funding – and the hazards of operating in a climate often hostile towards Christians – greatly limits the ability of these groups to function effectively.

“We have always been told there is no space in Egyptian schools, they are overcrowded. Now we have Iraqi and Syrians, and they find a place in these schools,” said an Italian priest working at a Catholic organisation who requested anonymity.

“Africans face deep political racism, and as an organisation, we get no help from the Egyptian state.”

Racism faced by black Africans can also be found in politics, he added. When meeting with their Egyptian counterparts, black African embassy officials are often “told that being black, they have to keep a distance”.

‘Egyptians are not African’

This discrimination finds its was onto the street, and black Egyptians say they encounter constant social hurdles.

Nada Zeitoun, a Nubian filmmaker from the upper Egypt city of Aswan, was recently denied service at a pharmacy in central Cairo because the pharmacist said he “didn’t accept money from black hands”.

Zeitoun exposed the incident on social media and eventually the pharmacist was fired, but she says it was just one example of a broader culture of racism.

“Most Egyptians don’t consider themselves African,” she said.

Although Nubians are among the first inhabitants of what is now considered modern Egypt, “[Egyptian people] don’t believe we have a huge provenance of Nubian people.”

Zeitoun adds: “Even [deposed President Mohammed] Morsi thinks we are foreigners.”

Several weeks after the incident, Zeitoun says she received a call from one of the owners of the pharmacy.

He told her: “I’m sorry, [the pharmacist] didn’t know you were Egyptian. He thought you were an African refugee.”

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4 COMMENTS
  • rahel July 21, 2013

    Egyptians r dead mind.we Africans also we dont need them.What u get from EGYPTION only theft.

  • simerrr2012 July 21, 2013

    I’m sorry, [the pharmacist] didn’t know you were Egyptian. He thought you were an African refugee.” That is even more harmful than the pharmacist who denied the service to the black Egyptian. I can feel now how our black Africans feel. Even the Embassy staff members are not comfortable to live in this country. The Egyptian discriminate the blacks and the Israeli discriminate the Arabs and the Germans and the East European hate the Jews. The Japanese hate the other Asians. The Chinese like the money of Africans but not people. The Persians do not like the Arabs and the Greece do not like the Turks. What a sick world.

  • NEW HOPE ERITREA July 21, 2013

    ¨YOUNG PEOPLE ASK ¨UNCLE¨ NHE (new hope Eritrea),UNCLE ,WHY SHOULD YOU CARE IF PEOPLE BASH ETHIOPIANS IN PARTICULAR & AGAMES /TIGRAWOT OF TIGRAY IN PARTICULAR ?¨

    መንእሰያት ኤርትራ ፣ጽንዓት ይሃብኩም። ነዚ ሕቶኹም ብግልጺ ክምልሶ ሃገራዊ ጥራይ ዘይኮነስ ፣ከም ኣቦ´ውን ሓላፍነተይ እዩ።እቲ ካብ ልበይ ዝቕንዘዎን ናይዞም ሳዕሪ ዘይበልዑ ኮይኖም እምበር ___¨ዓበይቲ¨ ገዘፍቲ ዘይሃቡኹም ምኽሪ ኣነ ክልግሰልኩም ይመርጽ።ግን እቲ ሓላፍነት ናይ መሚኻ ምቕባልን ምንጻግን ናትኩም ሓላፍነት እዩ።
    ንተጋሩ ናይ ትግራይ ይኹን ንኢትዮጵያውያን ከመስግኖም ከለኹ ምእንታኹም እዩ እምበር ፣ከንሻ ስለ ዝኾንኩ ዋጣ ክኸውን ኣይፍቀደለይን እዩ።ክ ዋጥየሎም ውን ኣይመርጽን።ምእንታና ድ ኣ እንታይ ኣተሓሒዝዎ ትብሉኒ ትኹኑ።ኣብዚ ግዜ እዚ ኣብነት ዝኾኑኹም ዓበይትን ፣ኣያ ትብልዎም መምሃራን የብልኩምን። ብገንዘብ እውን እቶም ንዓጋመ ከተጥፍ ኡሎም ፍርቂ ቢልዮን ዘዋጽ ኡ ሰብ ታክሲ ከም ናይ ትማል ፒሳ ደርብዮምኹም እዮም።ሓንቲ ሃገራውነት ዝተረፈቶም ዓጋመ ምጽራፍን ፣መንነቶም ምንሻውን እዩ። እንተዘይኮይኑ እቲ ዝኣከብዎ ናይ ሰኸርም ገንዘብን ወይ ውን ብረት ሒዞም ኮለል ዝበልዎን ዘይረብሕ ዕላማ፣ ትርጉም ንኽህልዎ ንዓኹም ከም ገንሸል ናይ ፋስጋ ከሕርኹም ሚልዮናት ዘዋጽኡ፣ እምበር ብሕልፊ እቶም ተጋደልቲ ናይ ጀብሃ ዝነበሩ ብዛዕባ ባድመ ብወያነን ሙዳዳን ኢትዮጵያውያን ሓይሊ ዝተወቕዑሉ ምዃኑ ይፈልጥዎ እዮም። ግን እዞም ኣብ ዕስራን ሓደን ክፍለ ዘበን እናነበሩ ናይ ሰብዓታት ሕማሞም ቆርጢሞም ዘይውሓጡ ፣ንሻዕብያ እንተዘይረኸብናያስ ንወያነ ንረኽባ ዝብል ንዓኹም ከም ኮንዶም ተጠቒሞም ብተዛዋዋሪ ዘሕረዱኹም ንሶም እዮም። ሕጂ ክትሕረዱን ክትዕመጹን ከለኹም ግን ኤርትራዊ ሃገርነት ብጽል ኢ ተኾስኵሱ ዝዓበየ ስለ ዝኾነ _፡ዓጋመ ከጥፍኡ እምበር ንህዝቢ ከድሕኑ፣ንመንእሰያት ከጽልሉ ኣብ ኣጀንድኦም የለን።ጀብሃ ከለዉ ኔርዎም እዩ፣(ብመጠኑ)___ወዘተ___
    ንጅቡቲ እንተሃደምኩም ወይ ንዘል ኣለም ትእሰሩ ወይ ቀፊዶም ይመልሱኹም፣ንሱዳን እንተኸድኩም ወይ መንግስቲ ኤርትራ እንተደልዩኩም ሓኒቖም ይመልስኹም __ወይ ብራሻይዳ ጌሮም ናብ በደዊን ሰብኡት ከይተረፈ ክትዕመጹን ደቀ ኣንስትዮ ብ ርሱን ስልኪ ኣጥባተን ክስቀልን ኣብ ብልዕተን ሓዊ ክኣትወንን ተሓታቲ ኢሳያስ ዘይኮነ እዞም ንኢሳያስ ብተምበንኔቱን ዓጋምነቱን ዝጸልእዎ ፣ንዓይ ዘፋራርሑኒን ዘለዉ ህዝቢ እዮም ።ንሶም ነቶም ትማሊ ቆለውዕ መቐለ ክቕተሉ ፣ነፈርትና ብድሓንዶ ተመሊሰን ኢሎም ዘጣቕዑ ደቆም እንድዮም ሓዊ ይብልዓዮም ከይበሉ ብዙሕ ኣብ ዘይብላ ዓዶምን ገዝኦምን ሓንጎፋይ ኢሎም ዝቕበሉኹምን ዘለዉ ዓጋመ እዮም __ብሰብዓን ሓሙሽተን ´ውን ኣዝማደይን ኣዝማድኩምን ካብ ኢትዮጵያ ሃዲሞም ኤርትራ ክ ኣትዉ ከለዉ ብዓዲ ግራት ክሓልፉ ከለዉ __ንእዶም ይኹን ዓራቶም ወሪዶም እናበኸዩ ንባዕሎም መሬት ወሪዶም ዘደቀሱኹም ክቡራት ኣቦታትኩምን ኣዴታትኩምን ህዝቢ ዓጋመ እዮም። ብዕራይ ሓሪዶም ዘብልዎም___እሞ እቲ ዓዲ፣ዓዲ ዓጋመ ምዃኑ ምስ ፈለጠ ___ካብ ሕጂ ዓጋመ ኢሉ ዝተጻረፈ ኣዲኡ ከር**ኦ እየ ዝበለ ኤርትራዊ ኣሎ።
    ግን እዞም ዓጋመ እዚኦም ብመስከረም ¨ተቓዋሚ¨ወብሳይት ብዝተሓበረ ፓልቶክ ትግራይ ሰሚዔዮምሲ ፣ከም ካሊገ ዝመሰለ ሓው ምስ ሰምዑን ምስ በዝሑን ፣እቶም ኢሳያስ ንጸልእ ኢና ዝብሉ ስመር ፓልቶክ እውን ንዝጸልእዎ ል ኡኽ ዓጋመ ኢሳያስ ኢሎም ነቲ መንነቶም ዘናሹ ካብ ኢሳያስ ዘይኮነስ፣ካብ እቶም ጸላእቱን ተቓወምቱን ኢሎም ጠጠው ዝበሉ ንዓጋመ ኢትዮጵያዊ ዘሎ ጽልኢ ከም ዝኸርር ስለ ዝርኣዩ___ነዚ ኦም ምዕንጋል ዋጋ የብሉን ወያነ ሓስዩ እዩ ፈተውቲ ህዝቢ ኢዮም ፣ሻዕብያ ኣጋግይዎም እምበር ዝብለና ኣብ ምባል በጺሖም።ኣነ እውን እቲ ህዝቢ ን ኢሳያስ ዓጋመ ንኽጸልእ ኣገዲድዎ ይኸውን እምበር ብግልባጡ ከም ዘይኮነ ይርድ ኣኒ።ን ኢሳያስ ክካላኸለሉ ኢለ ኣይኮንኩን ሓቂ ንምግላጽ እየ።ተጋሩ ኣሕዋትና ምጽላእ ጣልያን እምበር ሽስዕብያ ኣይምሃረናን።ሻዕብያ ፣ኣስላማይ ምጽላእን ኣከለጉዛይ ዘይምእማንን ምሂሩና (ኣማዕቢሉልና) እምበር ንዓጋመ ንምጽላእ ህዝበ ትግርኛ ናይ ኢሳያስ ሓገዝ ኣየድልዮን እዩ።
    እዚ ቅርሕንቲ ንመንእሰያት ትግራይ ምስ ወያነ የጋራጭዎም ኣሎ ።ኣሕዋት ኢና ንዝበለ ትግራዋይ __እዚ ሓሶት ናይ ወያነ እዩ ኢሎም ክግስጽዎ ምስ ሰማዕኩ___እዚ ነቶም መጸግዒ ዘይብልኩም መንእሰያት እታ ሓንቲ መጸግዒትኩም ከባላሽውልኩም ዝቃለሱ ዝለዉ__ገዘፍቲ ኤርትራውያን እዮም።
    ከምዚ ናተይ ሓቀኛን ዓራቕን ኣታሓሳስባ ድዩ ከም ዝድንገጸልኩም ዝገብር ወይሲ ከምዞም ርእይቶይ ቀጨውጨው ስለ ዝበሎም ዓጋመ ኢትዮጵያዊ እዩ ሳአልኹ ኣትዩና ዝብሉ ¨ተቓወምቲ¨ኢሳያስ። እምበር ኣነ ነቲ ኢትዮጵያውያን ብፍላይ ድማ ተጋሩ ናይ ትግራይ ዝገብርዎ ዘለዉ ንዓኹም ብምዕቋቦም ምምስጋነይ ካብቲ ዝሰርሕዎ ዘለዉ ዩንቨርሲቲን ኢንዱስትርን ሓንቲ ማቶነ ጡብ ኣይውስኸሉን እዩ።ግን ከምቲ ስድራይ ማሕበር ኣንድነት ክብሉ ከለዎ ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ከይቆርርን ከይድንደንን፥__ብፕሮ ኢታያን ራቢጣ ኢስላሚያን ሃገር ፋሕ ኢላ ኤርትራዊ ከይሃልቕ ወላዲ ኣዲኣ ኢትዮጵያ መሊሳ ክትጽምበር ዝመረጹ ፣ኣነ ድማ ምስ ኢትዮጵያ መሊስካ ምሕባር ኣዕዚዘ ይቃወሞ ፣ብሰላም ይንበሩ ዝተሳቐይዎን ዝተሰቐናዮን ይኣክል፣ ይማዕብሉ፡__ግን እታ ሓንቲ ጎኒ መጸግዒትኩም ከይትባላሾ እየ እምበር ድሕሪ ሕጂ እውን ኢትዮጵያ ዝብል ኣየልዕሎን።

    ግን ኣየናይ ኣረ ኣእያ ልቢ ከም ዘረስርስ ኣየናይ ልቢ ሓገዝትኹም ከም ዘትርር ባዕልኹም ምዘንዎ።ካብ ን ኢትዮጵያውያን ዘለኒ ¨ጽል ኢ¨ንዓኩም ዘለኒ ፍቕሪ ስለ ዝዓቢ ጫማ ጠቅላል ሚኒስተር ደሳለኝ እንተዘይስዒምካ ን ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ጸግዒ ኣይንህብን ኢና እንተ ዝብሉኒ __ናይ ኩሎም ጫማ ሓዊሰ ምስዓምኵኦ።መንእሰያት ሃገረይ ይፈትወኩም __ነቶም ዝወለዱኹም ግን መብዛሕት ኦም ደም ደቆም ዘስትዩ ስለ ዝኾኑ ቀቢጸ እየ።

    with gennuine tears of blood
    Uncle NHE

  • Kombishtato July 22, 2013

    We all have been saying this for years, it is only the ignorant and the volunteer Arab Abeeds who refused to accept this fact, that every black Arab had been crying for centuries.
    If the Arab does not recognize the existence of the black-Arab-Muslims among them, how the hell would they care about the poor Eritreans sold to Arab slavery in Egypt-Sinai or Libya, let alone to the Arab-Abeed wanabes living in diaspora romanticizing the Arabists.

    Hear it from the horse’s mouth:
    “This discrimination finds its was onto the street, and black Egyptians say they encounter constant social hurdles.

    Nada Zeitoun, a Nubian filmmaker from the upper Egypt city of Aswan, was recently denied service at a pharmacy in central Cairo because the pharmacist said he “didn’t accept money from black hands”.

    Zeitoun exposed the incident on social media and eventually the pharmacist was fired, but she says it was just one example of a broader culture of racism.”

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