Bayan Abubakr
Tadamon–The Egyptian Refugee Multicultural Council
Cairo, Egypt
I am currently a junior majoring in history and politics with a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. The focus of my degrees and my research thus far has been the effects that ethno-nationalism, institutionalized anti-blackness, and pan-Arabism have had on state formations in the Arab world. My primary focus has been on Sudan and Egypt, and the ways in which the Arabization project in Sudan has contributed to the conflicts in Darfur, South Sudan, and the Nuba Mountains (South Kordofan). This project and these conflicts have led to the one of largest and most neglected refugee crises in the world. As of 2015, there were an estimated 40.2 million displaced Sudanese peoples. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights estimates that there are between two to five million Sudanese refugees and migrants in Egypt.
The Egyptian and Sudanese security states have a fairly strong relationship. This relationship has given the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) of Sudan a strong base in Cairo, one that they use to intimidate and threaten Sudanese refugees and migrants. Oftentimes, the NISS accuses refugees of being spies or enemies of the Sudanese state, and have demanded that the Egyptian state extradite them to Sudan. Furthermore, these refugees and migrants are not protected by the Egyptian state, and the UNHCR does not legally recognize the majority of them as “refugees,” so only a minority are subject to protections under international refugee law. Sudanese refugees in Egypt have found it incredibly difficult to escape the viciousness of the Sudanese government and the realities of being a neglected refugee in Egypt.
The Sudanese refugee crisis, particularly as it relates to Egypt, is one of the most understudied and forgotten crises. It is a critical issue that needs to be addressed, as it is a microcosm of the larger refugee crisis in the Middle East, and it speaks to the experiences of black refugees and migrants in Arab countries. There are systemic issues and flagrant miscarriages of justice that need to be addressed in Egypt’s dealing of its Sudanese refugees.
Tadamon is an independent non-political network of civil society organizations working to promote the welfare of refugees and their mutual co-existence with Egyptian communities. Tadamon was formed to address the conflicts and tensions between refugee and Egyptian communities. Tadamon has spearheaded a number of initiatives in Cairo to actively work to diffuse these tensions and foster community between refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, and Egyptians in Cairo. Tadamon recognizes that Egyptian and migrant communities in certain neighborhoods in Cairo compete for the same scarce resources, and that many nonprofits and community organizations exclusively target the refugee or Egyptian population, an approach which Tadamon recognizes only exacerbates existing problems and strife. Tadamon counteracts this approach by curating programs, workshops, development practices, and trainings to encourage and promote coexistence and solidarity among and within these communities while also working to alleviate poverty among them.
I will assist Tadamon in executing these goals and I will work directly with several IGOs, NGOs, and academic institutions to provide them with the research that informs their work on the livelihood and challenges of Sudanese refugees in Cairo.