CAIRO: Refugees arriving to Egypt at the Saloum border crossing will not be processed for relocation beginning Sunday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a published statement. “Effective Sunday, newly arriving third country nationals from Libya at Egypt's Saloum border will not be processed for resettlement by UNHCR,” the statement began. “People already at Saloum will not be affected and work will continue on finding solutions for them, including resettlement for those found to be refugees. But anyone arriving after Sunday and seeking resettlement will no longer be processed for resettlement.” According to local refugee groups in Egypt, a large number of Africans have been crossing into Egypt from Libya in recent months as a result of the fighting and crackdown on Africans who many Libyans believe were hired by the former Gaddafi regime to fight against the people. But it's not just Africans, local sources say. There are also hundreds of Libyans who had fled the violence who also applied for refugee status. Their likely future involves a return to Libya. According to one African migrant in Cairo, “the situation on the border is crazy and there are a lot of people who don't know where to go or what to do.” The migrant, who spoke to Bikyamasr.com on condition of anonymity, said that many Africans already living in Egypt and who have not had the opportunity to apply for relocation and resettlement, journeyed to Saloum in recent weeks in order to take advantage of the relocation program established. “I have a number of friends who were here and are now being given asylum to a third-country because they convinced the UNHCR that they came from Libya,” he continued. “It is all we can do to fight against our struggle living in Egypt.” According to the UNHCR, since the start of the conflict in February, 37,866 third-country nationals have been evacuated from Saloum by IOM and UNHCR. Another 900 refugees have been submitted for resettlement, with 163 having departed. “The decision to halt further resettlement out of Saloum is based on a marked improvement in the situation in eastern Libya, and because UNHCR is refocusing its protection and assistance efforts inside Libya including RSD and resettlement,” said the UN refugee agency. According to the UNCHR, there remain over 1,800 Africans at the border and it is unclear what the UN will do with those people. For the Africans now stranded in Egypt, Ali, a Somali refugee who has been waiting for nearly a decade to be relocated, he warns that there will be an upsurge in anti-Africanism and racism toward the refugees who are barred from work and education in the country. “It is really sad that we are treated this way by the UNHCR,” he began. “I have been hear over 9 years and have not had an opportunity to do anything with my life because the Egyptian government doesn't give us rights and the UN won't relocate us to continue our lives. It is hard.” Before the Libyan violence, there were approximately 11,000 registered refugees in the country, but the UNHCR expects this number to rise dramatically in the near future. BM
