During his first visit to Germany after coming to power, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in a press conference held in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said, referring to the June 30 mass protests against former President Mohamed Morsi: “Had Egyptians not fought against religious fascism, we would have become a bunch of refugees.”

During his first visit to Germany after coming to power, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in a press conference held in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said, referring to the June 30 mass protests against former President Mohamed Morsi: “Had Egyptians not fought against religious fascism, we would have become a bunch of refugees.”

This shift in the Egyptian political arena has deepened the state of polarisation and pushed a number of media outlets to attack refugees, especially Syrians, and accuse them of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood and instability in Egypt. This has caused refugees to live their worst days in Egypt and be badly treated, not only by security services but also by Egyptian society which was doubtful in light of a severe political polarisation and acts of violence not witnessed in Egypt in years.

In late 2012, S. Moussa started housing Syrian refugee families for free in her apartment in Maadi district in an effort to help them until they could find jobs and fixed incomes. Four months later, A. Mohammad pressed baseless charges against her, accusing her of renting out her apartment to a foreign terrorist group that held several meetings a day.

“Egypt is now in a state of war and most foreign newcomers have come to carry out terrorist operations” said Mohammad to a police officer. “A large number of non-Egyptians frequent the apartment every day and I do not know what happens inside. I do not want to wait until security forces break into my house, arrest me and accuse me of covering up for a terrorist group.”

The situation did not reach an investigation because the police officer resolved the issue amicably, demanding that Moussa stop housing refugees and observe the security situation in the country and her neighbors’ fears and worries. She agreed and Muhammad withdrew his complaint.

“I came to Egypt, escaping the battle of the division of Sudan,” says S. Yaqoub, a 35-year-old Sudanese living in Egypt for the past seven years. “I used to think we and Egyptians were one people and that they would welcome us. I live in a modest area in central Cairo. Our neighbors do not communicate with us fearing that we practice magic because of the smell of Sudanese incense and Henna coming out of our house.

My son is mocked in his school because of his nationality, and my daughter is harassed and mocked for her skin color on a daily basis. Add to that the harsh way civil servants treat us. Although we pay for the services we receive, they think we are beggars rather than human beings like them or people of other nationalities.”

“We suffer from a real crisis in Egypt regarding the way Egyptian society looks at us,” says W. Saber, a 29-year-old Syrian who has been living in Egypt for three years. “They think we are stealing their food and jobs. Some directly accuse us of being the reason for the unemployment crisis in Egypt. Our coworkers treat us harshly and we often face problems outside of work – including beatings and harassment.”

“My family and I have been in Egypt since the war on Iraq broke out,” says W. Khaled, a 21-year-old Iraqi student. “I work as a saleswoman in a clothes shop alongside my studies to help my family with the expenses. Since the first day of my job, Egyptian men have been harassing me on a daily basis. They consider female refugees to be girls for pleasure and that our jobs are just a cover up for discrete prostitution.

Some verbally harassed me, some tried to touch me, and others invited me to their apartment. Once, a lady who owns a brothel in Giza invited me to work with her. When I refused, she said: “Do not pretend to be modest. I am sure you only do not want anyone to share your customers with you.”

T. Qader is a Sudanese victim of the 2006 Sudanese refugee massacre in Mustafa Mahmoud Square where he broke his right hand. “The garden of Mustafa Mahmoud mosque was filled with women and children but that did not stop Egyptian police from assaulting us,” he says. “Seventy people died before our eyes. Given hatred and racism, I sneaked into Israel with a group of Sudanese, having lost hope in fitting anywhere in the Arab World. At first, we were welcomed, but then we started being discriminated and harassed because of our color, Arab culture and IDs where our Muslim religion was written inside.

In 2013, the Israeli Knesset issued a law to detain Africans, particularly Sudanese, for a year without charges or prosecution. I sneaked back into Egypt in 2013 and lived with my friends and another Sudanese family in 6^th of October City.”

Human rights activist and a member of the Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights Hisham Issa says refugees in Egypt suffer from increased assaults day after day either from society or from security services. The media, he says, has significantly contributed to this because it demonized refugees, and following June 30, 2013, it portrayed them as pro-Islamism supporters and the cause of terrorist operations.

“The acts of violence of some against refugees are a new phenomenon in our society,” says Mohammad Mujahed, a sociology professor in Ain Shams University. “For decades, Egyptian society welcomed arrivals from all countries and shared its food with them. Society even found a way to deal with the civilians of occupiers like the English. It is not only about acts of violence against refugees, but also about a violence experienced by the whole society. The media is filled with pictures of dead bodies and blood. Politically speaking, society has become divided with each party accusing the other of being godless or traitor, thus justifying violence against it. We no longer have a tolerant culture.”

Mujahed believes that Egyptian society now needs psychological rehabilitation and community programs to encourage tolerance, and that media must stop spreading messages of incitement and treason because it negatively affects social peace.