Transit migration in Egypt
Published: 1/Jan/2006
Source: European University Institute, RSCAS
By Howaida Roman
Abstract:
Egypt is a big receiver to different kinds of migration, legal and illegal, documented and undocumented. The influx of refugees to Egypt started in the 1990s as a result of wars in the Horn of Africa, especially Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia, and most of them were destined for Cairo. Due to lack of local integration prospects in Egypt and the continuing conflicts in their home countries, resettlement to a third county becomes the only feasible durable solution. The study focuses particularly on Sudanese and Somali transit migrants. It tackles their patterns of flight and legal status, the causes of transit migration and its consequences, the living conditions of migrants in Egypt, their social interaction with Egyptians and with other refugee groups, the way civil society deals with refugees in Egypt, and the cooperation between transit countries and destination countries in regularizing migration. The study also includes an analysis of the Sudanese refugees crisis in Egypt in December 2005.
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