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IRAQIS NOT HAPPY IN EGYPT

Monday, 15 Sep 2008

Of the more than 120,000 Iraqis currently residing on various properties in Egypt, many say that they are not happy in Egypt and do not feel that the locals want them in the country. Most of these Iraqis fled from their own country over three years ago, but although a large number are incredibly unhappy in Egypt, they are not all that keen on returning to their own country.

A few thousand Iraqis have chosen accommodation in Egypt’s “New Baghdad” as their new home, which is located 20 kilometres from Cairo. One family currently renting a low-budget property in Egypt in the region has been in Egypt since 2006, having fled their home when the issues between Shias and Sunni became more violent than it already was. The father, Abdel Khedr Abdullah Jawad, says, “I wish I could go back home, but the security situation is still not good; electricity and water are not available all the time, and prices are very high.”

Despite the complaints of being unhappy in Egypt, the amount of Iraqis permanently living on properties in Egypt has increased from around 800 in 2003 to 120,000 registered with the Iraqi Embassy in Egypt, plus 10,600 that the United Nations has registered as refugees, in 2008. This is surprising considering the complaints Iraqis make, however, 56-year-old Mr Jawad, otherwise known as Abu Mohammed, says, “I chose Egypt because I’d never visited it and had heard it’s cheap and that they like Iraqis. But I discovered that Egyptians don’t like us to come work here; they consider us taking away work from them.”

The government is trying to encourage Iraqis currently living on property in Egypt to come home, to the extent that the government recently arranged two airplanes to transport Iraqis who want to come home but can not afford to purchase a plane ticket. However, due to the uncertain situation with their home country, too many Iraqis are afraid to accept the offer to return home.