CAIRO - Mohanad Abdel Karim is a young Syrian filmmaker who came to Egypt in October last year to escape a ruthless crackdown by the regime of President Bashar el-Assad on the opposition. Abdel Karim, who is an opposition activist, has since been staying in Egypt without facing big problems until this month. Like thousands of Syrians who have taken refuge in Egypt from the war in their home country, Abdel Karim was allowed to stay in Egypt without a residence permit under a decree from the now-ousted president Mohamed Morsi. However, in the wake of Morsi's fall, Egyptian authorities have ordered Syrians wishing to come to Egypt to get entry visas and those already staying in the country to have residence permits. As a result, hundreds of Syrians were barred from entering Egypt for having no entry visas. Local and international human rights say that Egyptian authorities have also embarked on a clampdown on Syrian refugees, resulting in rounding up many "illegals". Abdel Karim is one of those Syrians being kept in police custody on charges of illegal stay. He is facing the prospect of deportation to Syria where his life will be in danger. Adding to the ordeal of Syrians in Egypt is a hate campaign launched in print and electronic media, accusing them of siding with the Brotherhood in the current standoff over Morsi's removal. One celebrated TV anchor on a private anti-Islamist station has recently hurled overt threats at Syrian refugees whose actual numbers are not known. While official figures estimate them at 160,000, they are believed to hit 1 million scattered across Egypt. Some Syrians have been arrested allegedly for involvement in violence incited by the Brotherhood. Even if such Syrians are convicted of violence, why should all other refugees be punished? They have already enough woes. The anti-Syrian media campaign is part of a shocking wider drive being mounted by self-professed liberals against whoever they deem holding a different view. Pathetically, phony liberals are at pains to demonise Islamists. In doing this, they use the same hate rhetoric for which hardline Islamists were notorious when Morsi was in office. Egypt has been in the past three weeks gripped by chauvinistic fervour, which glorifies human rights abuses and condones curtailment of speech freedom – practices that contradict revolutionary spirit and ethics.
