Adel Taha, a Syrian refugee in his forties only wanted to purchase a television when the owner of the electric appliance store angrily asked him:  “Why did you come here? When did you Brotherhood supporters come from Rabia neighborhood?'”  

Now living in Luxor, 670 kilometers south of Cairo, Taha says he has gotten used to being treated with hostility since he arrived in Egypt about ten months ago.

Adel Taha, a Syrian refugee in his forties only wanted to purchase a television when the owner of the electric appliance store angrily asked him:  “Why did you come here? When did you Brotherhood supporters come from Rabia neighborhood?'”  

Now living in Luxor, 670 kilometers south of Cairo, Taha says he has gotten used to being treated with hostility since he arrived in Egypt about ten months ago.

Likewise, Mohammad Ziyad, another Syrian refugee in Luxor, and his friend Ghassan Abdulbaqi say they have also been exposed to repeated hostility since arriving in Egypt from Eastern Ghouta— near Damascus— with their families.

Abdulbaqi’s house in Eastern Ghouta was destroyed after the area was shelled with missiles by the Syrian Army. “Being homeless and threatened with death at any time, I came with my family to Luxor seeking security, as my friend Mohammad and his family had come here before me,” says Abdulbaqi. “Syrians have been wronged by the Egyptian media, which claimed that we support a specific political party in Egypt, which is untrue. We know very well that we are just guests in Egypt and we are not concerned with its interior affairs.”

We are not Egyptians

Hostility came to a head on August 14 when pro-Morsi sit-ins in the Rabia and Nahda neighborhoods were dispersed and Syrian refugees were arrested and harrassed after Egyptian media said they were Brotherhood supporters.

Over 95,000 Syrian refugees arrived in Egypt since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011 to last June; a large number resulting from the sympathy, support and solidarity the Syrians received in Egypt Syrians say.

Abdulbaqi and Taha say this sympathy continued until former President Mohamed Morsi delivered his Cairo Stadium speech, which was attended by some Syrians living in Egypt. Since then, they say many Syrian and Palestinian refugees have been wrongfully stereotyped as supporters of the Brotherhood.

“Many media outlets helped entrench this image since they kept on promoting a discourse of hatred and provocation,” claims Taha. “These lies have made us a target for the Brotherhood haters.”

“It is illogical that we are deemed supporters of any political party in Egypt since we are not Egyptians and we only want to come back to our country safe,” says Taha.

Post-Rabia period

Helmi Mahmud, an Egyptian resident of the Karnak area north of Luxor, says about 40 Syrians rented a residential building in the area a year ago. Local residents provided them with financial aid and other kinds of assistance and they managed to lead a normal life.

“After the dispersing of the sit-ins in the Rabia and Nahda neighborhoods, however, they became scared and refused to go out, except for emergency cases. They seemed too cautious when dealing with us after the media declared their support of the Brotherhood. They eventually went to Turkey,” says Mahmud, suggesting that the Egyptians declined to deal with the Syrians, rent out their houses to them, or even provide paid services.

“The Syrian regime’s agents are promoting such rumors in order to drive a wedge between us,” claims Mahmud who has many Syrian friends.

National security

“The Brotherhood, their few Syrian supporters and the state are to blame for the aggression against the Syrians,” says Abu Bakr Fadel, the Secretary of the Socialist Popular Alliance Party in Luxor.

National security, says Fadel, is the pretext some use for maltreating Syrians. “You are entitled to do whatever you want against someone who endangers national security. But this does not mean that you punish all the Syrians when one of them violates your national security,” argues Fadel. “Egypt, as the largest Arab country, must be a safe haven for Syrians and other Arabs fleeing the oppression of their rulers, rather than a place they find in what they have fled.”

Fadel finds it strange that the Egyptian media is still adopting the same “provocotive discourse” even after President Morsi was toppled. He says officials ought to remember that Egypt was the first African country to sign the 1951 Refugee Convention and also signed the Refugee Convention of the Organization of African Unity. “Consequently, we have to adhere to our commitments and responsibilities,” he concluded.