WUNRN
SYRIA-EGYPT - SYRIAN REFUGEE WOMEN
VULNERABLE TO EXPLOITATION IN EGYPT
A
Syrian woman at a refugee camp in
CAIRO, 31 January 2013 (IRIN) - Lina Al Tiby, a Syrian activist
living in Cairo, runs a support network for Syrian women refugees; helps them
adapt to life in Egypt; and tries to persuade them not to allow poverty to push
them into sex work or unwanted marriage.
Arriving in
"Egyptian men tell Syrian women they will marry them to help them and
their families, but… can’t these men help Syrian women without marrying
them?" said Al Tiby.
They tell the Syrians that if they marry them they will take care of their
needs, a trend encouraged by certain preachers who encourage Egyptian men to
marry Syrian refugee women, describing this marriage as a kind of jihad
(Arabic).
Such statements have been criticized in
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says 14,375
refugees and asylum seekers from
There is no estimate of the number of Syrian women who have married Egyptian
men, but Syrian refugees told IRIN the number is on the rise. A similar trend
is happening in Jordan.
Exploitation
Laila Baker, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) representative in
The issue is a sensitive one in
“Syrian families living in
“Most of these marriages happen with very small dowries; some marriages happen
without dowries at all. In this case, these marriages contradict all prevailing
customs in both Egyptian and Syrian societies,” she said.
Abu Omar, a Syrian cobbler in his mid-forties, who fled to
"It is becoming both annoying and humiliating," Abu Omar said.
"Egyptians should understand that by doing this they are not helping
Syrians, but exploiting their difficult conditions."
A joint assessment of Syrian refugees carried out by UNHCR, the
World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) identified
severe harassment, survival sex and forced marriage as some of the protection
concerns facing the community, alongside violence, security threats (theft and
physical aggression), and deteriorating livelihoods.
Fear of harassment and exploitation is one reason why Abu Omar keeps his
17-year-old daughter hidden when Egyptian strangers knock at his door.
Al Tiby’s Syrian friend Tareq* was not quite as successful in hiding his own
daughter, 13: He recently received a call from an Egyptian mosque preacher
asking to marry the girl. He refused and now says he is concerned about her
safety.
Vulnerable
The conflict in
More than 700,000 Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries, especially