What rights do Iraqi refugees in Egypt have under international law? Egypt is bound under international law to recognise all Iraqis fleeing Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion as de facto refugees from the moment they arrive in Egypt. Whether or not the refugees register with UNHCR is immaterial with respect to their legal status as refugees, and Egypt has a duty under both the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa to give legal protection to the approximately estimated 150,000 Iraqis currently seeking refuge in Egypt. According to Michael Kagan, senior international human rights law fellow at the American University in Cairo, Egypt should certainly not force any Iraqi refugee in Egypt to return to Iraq. "Iraqis' civil and political rights must also be protected, including the right to form associations," Kagan told the Weekly. "The fact that they are being forbidden from forming associations only renders them more dependent on assistance." Secondly, the right of Iraqi refugees to work at the latest three years after their arrival in Egypt is enshrined in Article 17 of the 1951 UN Convention. Equal access to public education is protected, and under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Egypt has ratified, equal access for refugees to higher education is also protected. Abeer Etafa, spokesperson for the UNHCR Cairo office, noted in an interview with the Weekly that Egypt has signalled reservations regarding its obligations under the 1951 UN Convention with regard to access to public healthcare and education. However, refugee lawyer Ashraf Milad argues that "such reservations, in order to take effect, should have been made public. But in fact they have not been. Any lawyer will argue that a reservation that has not been made public cannot take effect." In practice, UNHCR takes charge of providing refugees with a degree of assistance, in order that they may send their children to private schools, given that they are effectively unable to access public schools. For Mohamed Sami, an official in the Office for Arab Affairs at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is not a lack of will, but rather a lack of resources, that has led to a situation whereby Iraqi refugees in Egypt are not granted the levels of protection owed to them under international law. Nevertheless, the rights of the Iraqi refugees may extend beyond those enshrined in the international conventions. This is because all citizens of Iraq have been the victims of an illegal war of aggression and of "a war of liquidation, genocide and plunder," according to a paper entitled US Genocide in Iraq by Ian Douglas, Abdul Ilah Albayaty and Hana Al Bayaty. Moreover, since the US and its coalition partners invaded Iraq illegally and without UN Security Council authorisation, they have an obligation to provide effective remedy for the situation they have created, according to Elna Sondergaard, professor of public international law at the AUC. "Now that Iraqis are seeking refuge in Arab states including Egypt, the US [and its allies] has an obligation to those states," Sondergaard argued. UN General Assembly Resolution 60/147 of March 2006, entitled "Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law," stipulates that victims of such violations be "treated with humanity and respect for their dignity and human rights, and appropriate measures be taken to ensure their safety, physical and psychological well-being and privacy, as well as those of their families." Since the US and its coalition partners invaded Iraq illegally, they should now be obliged to make reparations under international law. Under Resolution 60/147, such reparation includes the restoration, where possible, of the situation before the violation was committed. Compensation should also be paid for physical or mental harm, and for lost opportunities, including employment, education and social benefits, material damages and loss of earnings, including loss of earning potential, moral damage and costs required for legal or expert assistance. The Iraqi victims of the invasion, including the refugees, also have the right to satisfaction, which includes a public apology and guarantees of the non-repetition of the violations they have suffered. While refugee status under international law functions as a method of protection rather than as a means of attaining justice, this does not mean that refugees do not have the right to justice. This right is particularly relevant to the Iraqi refugees since they are often seeking refuge in host countries whose peoples have been impoverished by the same system of economic and political domination that led to the illegal invasion of Iraq. By Serene Assir
