“Egypt has long provided a safe haven for all who have sought refuge within its borders after being compelled by harsh circumstances to leave their homeland,” the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement Thursday on the occasion of the World Refugee Day.
“On this occasion, Egypt reiterates the importance of intensifying international efforts to ensure the fair and sustainable implementation of the principle of burden and responsibility sharing, particularly through mobilizing the necessary resources to meet the needs of refugees and help alleviate the pressures on host countries,” read the statement.
The statement stressed the country’s policies of respecting human rights and the human dignity of refugees and asylum seekers, ensuring their freedom of movement to facilitate their integration into society.
The foreign ministry asserted that the Egyptian government provides the refugees with essential services on par with its citizens.
In a global context where crises are escalating and intersecting, and with the number of refugees worldwide reaching unprecedented levels, international cooperation remains the only effective and sustainable way to address refugee issues, stressed the statement.
The ministry urged addressing refugee issues from a comprehensive perspective that recognizes the integration of humanitarian and developmental dimensions, thereby enhancing the resilience of host communities.
Such efforts, the ministry noted, should be done in parallel with strengthening efforts to achieve peace to address the root causes of crises in refugees' countries of origin to help create favourable conditions for their safe and dignified return to their countries.
Refugees in Egypt
Egypt hosts 646,291 registered refugees and asylum seekers from 62 countries, according to the latest data released by the United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR).
Up to 57 percent of the refugee population in Egypt are Sudanese citizens – who fled the current war in Sudan, which erupted in April last year – followed by the Syrian refugees (24 percent), and the South Sudanese refugees (7 percent).
The list also includes Eritrean refugees (6 percent), Ethiopian refugees (3 percent), Yemeni refugees (1 percent), Somali refugees (1 percent) and other nationalities (1 percent).
Forty-five percent of the registered refugees in Egypt are male while 51 percent are female, with 56 percent of whom are in the 18-59 age group, and 38 percent in the age group of 0-17.
Five percent of those refugees are over 60 years old, according to the UNHCR.
The vast majority of refugees are divided over seven governorates, including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Suez, Daqahliya, Sharqiya, and Qalioubiya.
The Egyptian capital comes first hosting 55.4 percent of refugees – mostly Sudanese (26.3 percent) and Syrian refugees (18.3 percent) – followed by Giza with 41.2 percent , also mostly Sudanese (60.2 percent) and Syrians (27.58 percent), and then Alexandria with 1.6 percent.
In 2022, the International Organization of Migration (IOM) estimated the number of foreign migrants in Egypt, including refugees and asylum seekers, to be not less than 9,115,929 million from 133 countries, including 4 million Sudanese, 1.5 million Syrians, one million Yemenis, and one million Libyans.
These four nationalities constitute 80 percent of the international migrants currently residing in the country.
In April, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that Egypt shoulders over $10 billion annually to host the nine million migrants including refugees at a World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh.
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