With the first phase of the Egyptian parliamentary elections approaching, Firas Haj Yehya, in charge of human rights at the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) in Cairo, wrote: “A word of warning to all Syrians: The Egyptian parliamentary elections start tomorrow and they are of course accompanied by intensive security measures. We therefore urge Syrians living in Egypt to stay indoors as much as they can during these few days and to stay away from polling stations and crowded places in all cities.

With the first phase of the Egyptian parliamentary elections approaching, Firas Haj Yehya, in charge of human rights at the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF) in Cairo, wrote: “A word of warning to all Syrians: The Egyptian parliamentary elections start tomorrow and they are of course accompanied by intensive security measures. We therefore urge Syrians living in Egypt to stay indoors as much as they can during these few days and to stay away from polling stations and crowded places in all cities. Our commitment to the above-mentioned (measures), indicates our people’s awareness, civilized behaviour in non-interference in others’ affairs and appreciation towards the people who have helped us since the start of our revolution. We ask Allah to keep Egypt and its kind people safe and secure.”

According to the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 160,000 refugees were registered in Egypt in 2015. However, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs says nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees are currently living in Egypt. Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs Tareq Adel says Egypt is putting all these refugees in residential areas not in camps like in other countries.

Egyptian lawyer Youssef Mutany, the founder of Egypt and the Levant Center which offers free legal advice to Syrians and is respected by a large number of them, brought several suits against the Egyptian government on issues of refugees and the Syrian revolution. In 2013, Mutany sued Morsi to stop the passage of Iranian ships through the Suez Canal. And in September 2015, he filed a lawsuit to revoke an interior ministry decision preventing Syrians from entering Egypt without a visa.

Mutany believes that the Egyptian government has changed its treatment toward Syrian refugees since June 30, 2013, when the army toppled former President Mohamed Morsi following many protests to overthrow him. This change, says Mutany, owes to the fact that among those during the pro-Morsi sit-in in Rabia Square were Syrians flying the flag of the Syrian revolution. “This led to a declined public and official sympathy with refugees,” he says.

The issue of Syrians supporting Islamists during the Rabia sit-in has been inspected by a security source who spoke under conditions of anonymity, and they have agreed that the number of those Syrians present at Rabia Square was very few. Some media however took advantage of this to demonize Syrians and link them to the Muslim Brotherhood. As a result, the government began to tighten its grip on Syrians entering and moving about in Egypt.

Forged permits

In February 9, 2015, 16 local and international human rights organizations issued a statement calling on Egyptian authorities to end an arbitrary detention of 74 Syrian, Palestinian and Somali refugees, including 15 minors in Karmouz police station, who were arrested during a failed attempt to migrate illegally to Europe via the Mediterranean.

“Thirty refugees have started a hunger strike because they are still detained, even though the district attorney has dismissed the charges of illegal entry and the Minister of Interior has issued a decision to deport them,” read the statement. “Over 7,000 refugees have been detained since August 2013, mostly for illegal entry.”

In May 2015 following German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier’s visit to Cairo, Egypt agreed to receive 300 Syrian refugees including 42 Karmouz refugees. And according to NCSROF data, the case was closed on October 27 following the deportation of the last 11 of them to Sweden.

Despite the suffering of Karmouz refugees, their Facebook page posted a statement thanking police lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Sa’eed for his efforts in alleviating the detainees’ distress throughout their detention.

Syrian refugees struggling with Egyptian bureaucracy has led many Syrians to deal with illegal agents who produced 32,000 forged permits issued by the Masr Gadida Immigration Department (MGID) from August 2013 to October 2015. The mafia associated with these phony permits have since been arrested and prosecuted, including MGID officers, Syrians and Egyptian agents.

According to Egyptian law, in cases of a forged permit, the passport holder shall be prosecuted whether s/he is the culprit, an accomplice or a victim of good faith. Mutany says the majority of such people receive a suspended sentence of one month imprisonment and are eventually deported.

Mutany argues that Egyptian law does not require presidential decrees to address the issue of residence among refugees, but it is about the type of administrative treatment, which is currently careful and cautious. He suggests that the Minister of Interior issue a decision to abolish all MGID forged permits and issue a temporary residence permit of six months in exchange for a fine of US $100.

For six months, Mahmud Ezzat, an Egyptian administrator in a private school, was in charge of processing Syrian students’ applications in basic education schools in Egypt. Officially registered students and their families are elegible for a one-year residence permit. But Ezzat says some students wanted to be registered just to obtain a residence permit rather than for educational reasons. “Many students did not attend school throughout the year.”

Inflexible embassy

Obtaining a residency permit in Egypt depends not only on Egyptian authorities but also on the approval of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo, which oversees the issuance and renewal of passports.

Abu Mazen Homsi, a pseudonym, says he has been a non-partisan media activist in the Syrian revolution since its outset. During the Syrian revolution, he took it upon himself to create popular media in the city of Homs, which remained under siege by the Syrian army for two years.

In November 2011, seven months after the outbreak of the revolution, Homsi went to Egypt. When his wife delivered his son a month later, he registered the child with the Egyptian civil registry. He then left his wife and son in Cairo and went back to Homs where he got stuck and could not return to Egypt until 2014. The Syrian Embassy in Egypt however refused to grant his son a passport because of Homsi’s political activity. “The procedure is illegal and arbitrary,” he says. “Once, they told my brother: ‘Let the boy bear the burden of his father’s actions.’ He still does not have a passport.”

Homsi is currently wanted by the Syrian regime, was sentenced to death and all of his money was confiscated by the authorities, and his passport has expired. He registered himself with the UNHCR office in Cairo, but the UNHCR Protection Bureau informed him that it could only include him in the resettlement program in a European country. Homsi however says as an Arab, he prefers to live in Egypt.

Supplied with a passport printing machine by a French company, the NCSROF is currently issuing passports, however they are still unrecognized internationally, although the NCSROF is recognized as an opposing authority by 90 countries, including Egypt, who call themselves Friends of Syria.

Yellow card dilemma

Syrians also suffer from increased fees imposed on them by the Syrian Embassy to extract or renew any official papers. Iyad Noufali, a Syrian accountant working in a clothing company owned by another Syrian in Cairo, says passport renewal fees are US$ 400, a financial burden on Syrians in Egypt.

Noufali’s daily commute takes four hours or more depending on traffic and the L.E. 2,500 (US $320) he earns per month barely allow him to make ends meet, especially since his wife is expecting a child in February.

Nevertheless, Noufali, who previously worked with several relief organizations, still prefers dealing with the embassy than registering with the UNHCR. “I saw it with my own eyes,” he says. “The UNHCR tells you to dispense with your passport to give you an alternative, which is the yellow card that grants you no rights at all.”

Noufali says neither the UNHCR nor the embassy provides yellow card holders with official papers. “Once you register your name with the UNHCR, a sentence will be written on the passport, saying the file has been transferred to the yellow card,” he says. “When embassy employees see the statement, they hit the passport in your face and say: ‘Do not come to us. Go to the UNHCR.’ UNHCR says it does not have the power to issue any official papers. So why on earth have they given us the yellow card? Is that not injustice and fraud?”

Many Syrians now warn on Facebook to not get a yellow card. “People no longer need yellow cards,” says Noufali.

The legal status of Syrians in Egypt is very complex. “Registering with the UNHCR prevents you from leaving the country,” says Homsi. “It is a regulatory action to count the number of asylum seekers in each country. Besides, asylum seekers cannot obtain a residence permit in Egypt. This is why Syrians prefer to remain registered with the embassy while seeking to get a permit.”

Back in 2012, says Homsi, there was no difference in treatment between Egyptians and Syrians in Egypt. He recalls that he did not carry his passport during his movements within Egypt and his ID or driver’s license could replace a residence permit. He maintains that all the problems Syrians now face is due to Egyptian national security, especially after June 30, 2013, the fall of President Morsi.

Syrian diaspora and reunion

Syrians are currently scattered in several countries. Homsi’s family, for instance, is scattered among Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, UAE, France, Jordan and Syria.

Noufali came to Egypt on September 20, 2012 to pursue his graduate studies. But when he failed to earn a Master’s Degree, he decided to bring his wife from Jordan. “I was shocked when she was denied entry thrice,” says Noufali. “One day, an Egyptian friend of mine asked a relative of hers to help me. Indeed, my wife got cleared and entered the country.”

According to Egyptian law, a Syrian resident has the right to bring first-degree relatives. However, even this faces restrictions due to national security and the security situation following June 30, 2013.

Like Egyptian students but…

Ammar Qaddah, a master’s student at the Faculty of Law in Cairo, began studying in March 2014. Former President Adly Mansour issued a decision to treat Syrian and Egyptian students equally. In April, however, Chancellor of Cairo University Gabir Gad Nassar issued a decision to only apply Adly’s decision to undergraduates.

“The university asked me to pay 2,400 Egyptian pounds (US $307) pursuant to Nassar’s decision although I was registered with the university and the decision shall not be implemented retroactively” says Qaddah.

Staff of the Department of Student Affairs was at odds over Nassar’s decision and the tuition. For eight months, Qaddah tried to find a party to adopt the issue. “In the presence of a UNHCR representative, we counted 90 students affected by the decision retroactively,” he says. “The UNHCR however did not help. Then, the NCSROF promised us to pay part of the tuition, but it also abandoned us.”

At the end of these eight months, the tuition was determined and Qaddah had to pay 1,200  Egyptian pounds US $153.