CAIRO: 39,461 refugees and asylum seekers are currently registered in Egypt as of November, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The report, issued by the Regional Office of the UNHCR on Thursday, said the majority of the refugees are Sudanese, followed by Iraqis, Somalis, Ethiopians, and Eritreans. The report said there are 22,534 Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, accounting for approximately 57 percent of the total. Second are Iraqi refugees, with 6,724 people, or about 17 percent. There are 6,611 Somali refugees, and only about 6 percent are Etheopian and 4 percent Eritrean. The report said 367 Sudanese and 173 Iraqis were voluntarily repatriated between January and November 2010. 369 more Iraqis are working with the UNHCR to solve issues and arrange repatriation. The report added that the UNHCR has to provide the papers of 823 people of different nationalities for their resettlement, and expects that the number of persons who will be presenting their files for resettlement in 2010 to reach 900 people. The report said the number school-age of children (6-18 years of age) registered with the UNHCR is 9,956. It is expected that UNHCR is providing support for education for about 7,000 refugee children through the academic year 2010 -2011. The number of students, refugees and asylum seekers who received scholarships through the relief Agency through the end of November reached 6 thousand students. BM
