The UNHCR and the Egyptian authorities are stepping up efforts to peacefully resolve the Sudanese asylum sit-in crisis in Mohandessin, reports Gamal Nkrumah Adel Imam, the larger-than-life, adrenaline- fuelled star and United Nations goodwill ambassador, played a pivotal role in bringing together high-level officials from the ministries of the interior and foreign affairs to meet with representatives of Refugee Voices, the group mobilising Sudanese asylum-seekers staging a sit-in at the Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque in Mohandessin, Cairo, and the staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). "We're working closely with the Egyptian government with the aim of finding a quick resolution to the sit-in," Imam told Al-Ahram Weekly. He sought to strike a sober tone to the talks. "We're most concerned about the welfare, well-being and health of the asylum-seekers, and especially because a substantial proportion of the protesters are women and children," he explained. Imam has been working tirelessly for the past month to remedy the situation. Last Thursday, for example, he organised an instrumental meeting between officials from the ministries of interior and foreign affairs, UNHCR management and the asylum-seekers. Yet modestly he declines to take credit for his initiatives and efforts. "The UNHCR is doing its best," he insists. Imam said that the Sudanese asylum-seekers face grave social and economic problems in Egypt. The Thursday marathon meeting initiated by Imam began at 11am and ended at 5pm. It was one of several high-level meetings designed to end the refugee sit-in crisis. The sprightly septuagenarian, who is performing in the hit play Bodyguard every evening, showed extraordinary enthusiasm and stamina. It has been some six weeks now since the Sudanese asylum-seekers gathered in a park near the Mohandessin mosque. Authorities expressed deep concern over the humanitarian conditions of the protesters. The refugees were initially reluctant to embrace any of the UNHCR's offers. The UNHCR said that it would review the cases of asylum-seekers for one-time assistance based on a detailed list of names to be forwarded to the UNHCR by Sunday. By time of going to press, the list had not been completed. The UN body offered to organise the return to southern Sudan refugees who decide of their own free will to repatriate. Indeed, Imam insisted on voluntary repatriation given the still volatile situation in Sudan. The Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 9 January 2005, but the situation on the ground is tense and conditions are unlivable in some areas, asylum-seekers argue. Against such priorities, the cash-strapped UNHCR are in a difficult position as the UN body is unable to meet all of the demands of the refugees. The UNHCR offices in Cairo scaled down their staff on Sunday because of the sudden sharp increase in the number of Sudanese asylum- seekers protesting in Mohandessin. "By Sunday, they numbered an estimated 4,000," Dessalegne Damtew, deputy representative of UNHCR in Cairo, told the Weekly. "We urge the Sudanese asylum-seekers to end the sit-in. We made a generous offer. We want to have one-to-one meetings with the most vulerable individuals. We want a quick resolution to the crisis." An agreement guaranteeing freedom of movement, residence, work and property ownership between Egypt and Sudan was signed a year ago. But, the refugees say, the so-called "four freedoms agreement" has not been implemented. According to the agreement, Sudanese nationals would be entitled to own property in Egypt, as well as rightfully work and reside here. Egyptian nationals would also enjoy the same rights in Sudan. The refugees themselves are a mixed lot. Recognised refugees hold blue identity cards and have their residence papers in order. They do not even need to have passports. But some refugees can't express themselves well. They are easily intimidated, fearful and lack self-confidence. A good number of those camping in Mohandessin are not "recognised" refugees. Most desperately seek resettlement in a third, preferably Western, country. They are essentially unhappy in Egypt because of their legal status and poor employment prospects. Legally, asylum-seekers are treated as foreigners. "The process of identifying who is a genuine refugee and who is not by the UNHCR is all very subjective. It is the luck of the draw. The process leads to the demeaning of the asylum-seeker and refugee. There are no legally argued letters saying why the individual refugee was rejected. There are no legal safeguards built into the system to prevent genuine asylum-seekers from being rejected. Unfortunately procedures at the UNHCR leave a lot to be desired," argues Barbara Harrell-Bond, professor of forced migration studies at the American University in Cairo. The asylum-seekers' main grievance was that the UNHCR had temporarily suspended its investigations into determining their refugee status. Other than especially desperate cases, such as refugee children who are in Egypt unaccompanied by adults, all cases were put on hold. The asylum- seekers also said that the UNHCR had limited its assistance programmes to all except families with more than six children. "Technically, there are three categories of refugees," explains Harrell-Bond. "First, those who actually have UN blue cards and have therefore successfully secured refugee status and receive UNHCR assistance. Second, those not officially recognised as refugees but whose claims are under investigation by UNHCR officials. And, last, the so-called 'closed files' of those asylum-seekers whose applications and appeals have been rejected or denied." It is the closed files that are at the heart of the problem, now. "They are in limbo," Harrell-Bond argues. According to the leaders of Refugee Voices there is an urgent need for legal assistance in Egypt. But the UNHCR is happy with the Egyptian government's decision to give six-month renewable residence permits to Sudanese nationals, and to their spouses and children up to the ages of 14, free of charge. However, even under the four freedoms agreement, Sudanese nationals would still be unable to benefit from social security. The four freedoms agreement also doesn't entitle Sudanese nationals in Egypt to benefit from health and education assistance.
