Egypt

2012 UNHCR country operations profile - Egypt

Working environment

The context

As in other countries in the region, Egypt has been the scene of major upheavals in 2011, with an immediate impact on UNHCR's activities. While Egypt is signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, as well as the 1969 OAU Convention, it has yet to develop domestic asylum procedures and institutions. Registration, documentation and refugee status determination (RSD) are carried out by UNHCR, under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government signed in 1954. Changes in the form of a new transitional government that has emerged from the recent events in Egypt give rise to hopes for an environment that will be more conducive to refugee protection in Egypt.

Egypt is a refugee-receiving as well as transit country, often for irregular movements, particularly from sub-Saharan countries through the North Sinai. Addressing the challenges posed by these irregular movements in a manner that is mindful of Egypt's security concerns while ensuring respect for the principle of non-refoulement, remains a priority for UNHCR.

Since violence erupted in Libya in February 2011, close to 475,000 people have entered Egypt through Saloum, including Libyans, third-country nationals and refugees who had been resident in Libya. To date, it is estimated that some 238,000 Libyans have returned home, while 15,300 Libyans who entered through Saloum are still living in Egypt.

UNHCR established a presence in Saloum, a small town close to the border, at the beginning of the crisis to address immediate needs. Many people were unable to enter Egypt due to restrictions applied by the Government and remained stranded in the border area for days awaiting transportation back home. In collaboration with its partners, UNHCR provided food, water, blankets and hygiene items. With the Government's permission, UNHCR then erected temporary structures in the border area to be used as short-term shelter.

More than 1,600 people of concern to UNHCR, who cannot return home, remain stranded at the Saloum border. For this group, UNHCR is providing essential services as well as carrying out registration, conducting RSD and making referrals for resettlement. Other agencies operating at the border withdrew as of 30 June 2011, and UNHCR has assumed responsibility for the services they had provided and plans to maintain a field presence until end 2012.

The needs

Asylum-seekers, mainly from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Somalia and Sudan, continue to arrive in Egypt. UNHCR offers them registration, RSD, protection and counselling services from its office in Cairo. The detention people moving in an irregular manner, including asylum-seekers, has continued in Egypt. While UNHCR is allowed access to detained registered refugees and asylum-seekers, access to unregistered asylum-seekers has been very limited.

Finding durable solutions, particularly voluntary repatriation and resettlement, for refugees with protection and other requirements that cannot be addressed in Egypt, is one of UNHCR's main objectives.

In view of the difficult socio-economic conditions faced by refugees and asylum-seekers in Egypt, UNHCR and its partners provide assistance to the most destitute and those with specific needs, while at the same time working to improve self-reliance.

It is foreseen that UNHCR will continue to be present at the Libyan-Egyptian border in 2012, to assist refugees and asylum-seekers who are stranded there. UNHCR will provide these people with shelter, food, water, sanitation, health, psychosocial support and, where appropriate, facilitate their resettlement.

Main objectives and targets for 2012

Basic needs and essential services

Services for groups with specific needs are strengthened.

• Some 5,000 people receive counselling.
• Around 10,000 people with specific needs receive support.

The health of the population of concern improves or remains stable.

• Some 700 people use reproductive-health services.
• Around 25,000 patients receive primary health care/in-patient services.
• Some 240 people are referred for specialist medical services.
• Around 20,000 people receive health education.

The population of concern has optimal access to education.

• 80 per cent of children in this group are enrolled in primary education.
• 65 per cent of children are enrolled in secondary education.
• Some 250 teachers are trained.
• Around 800 children attend pre-school day care.

The risk of sexual and gender-based violence is reduced and the quality of the response is improved.

• Referral mechanisms are established and sustained.
• An inter-agency working group on sexual and gender-based violence is established.
• Safe houses are established and 12 women and girls are able to use them.
• Some 400 people are counselled.

Favourable protection environment

Refoulement is stopped or reduced.

• Around 100 interviews with people of concern are conducted.
• Four refugee law training sessions are conducted.

Fair protection processes and documentation

The standard of registration and profiling is improved or maintained.

• Registration data is updated.
• Registration is in accordance with UNHCR's standards.
• Some 2,000 people are registered on an individual basis.

Status-determination procedures are more and fairer efficient.

• Refugee status determination is conducted for 2,000 people.

Durable solutions

The potential for voluntary return is realized.

• Some 950 people are provided with transport to return home.
• Around 950 people receive a cash grant to cover the transportation cost in the country of origin.
• Some 950 verifications are conducted of voluntary returns.

The potential for resettlement is realized.

• Around 30 cases for resettlement are identified.
• Some 950 resettlement files are prepared and submitted.
• Incidents of fraud in registration are detected.

Community participation and self-management

The level of self-reliance is improved.

• Some 1,100 people are provided with vocational training in knitting, sewing, hair dressing, car mechanics, welding, and carpentry.
• A self-reliance and livelihoods strategy is developed.

Strategy and activities in 2012

UNHCR plans to pursue its previously identified goals in Egypt, namely to advocate for more protection space and access to basic social services for refugees and find durable solutions for refugees of mixed nationalities in urban settings. In 2010, Cairo was selected as a pilot city for the implementation of UNHCR's policy on refugee protection and solutions in urban areas. This led to the development of new strategies for health care and education. In 2012, UNHCR will focus on self-reliance, social services, psychosocial support for vulnerable refugees and community mobilization, as well as mobile registration of asylum-seekers in Alexandria, UNHCR will also work on voluntary repatriation and resettlement to maximize opportunities for durable solutions.

UNHCR will work with its partners to reduce the risk of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and improve the quality of the response to survivors. In 2011, inter-agency coordination was strengthened, the intake and assessment form was revised, and the referral network for survivors was expanded and institutionalized. Through this referral network, SGBV survivors and victims of trafficking are provided with safe houses/shelters, health and legal services, psychosocial support, financial support, and livelihoods.

Constraints

The protection space is limited in Egypt. UNHCR continues to advocate for access to all asylum-seekers and refugees in detention. While voluntary repatriation to South Sudan may become feasible given its recent independence, for refugees of most other nationalities prospects for voluntary repatriation remain uncertain. Increased resettlement opportunities from Cairo remain a durable solution for only a minority of refugees. For more than 1,600 non-Libyan people of concern stranded at the Egyptian-Libyan border, resettlement may nonetheless be the only solution. UNHCR will work with IOM to develop voluntary return programmes for rejected asylum-seekers.

Over the past few years UNHCR has tried to shift from providing individual refugees with assistance to helping them become self-reliant, including through vocational training and the provision of microcredit, employment services and counselling. However, the lack of a legal asylum framework, high unemployment and widespread poverty among nationals, as well as limited opportunities for refugees in the informal sector, remain major challenges for UNHCR in this urban-refugee situation.

Organization and implementation

Coordination

UNHCR will continue to work closely with the Refugee Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior. The Office is planning to work with a new international implementing partner in 2012, in the areas of financial assistance and refugee self-reliance. UNHCR will also pursue efforts to diversify its local partners. It will expand cooperation with the main universities in Cairo, and will continue working closely with other UN agencies, the League of Arab States and the Arab Parliament.

Financial information

The financial requirements for Egypt's operation in 2012 are slightly higher than at the beginning of 2011 and amount to USD 19.7 million. During the course of 2011, Egypt's budget increased significantly due to the supplementary needs for the Libya Situation. In 2012, the additional needs resulting from the Libya crisis have been included in the comprehensive budget.

Source: UNHCR Global Appeal 2012-2013

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