In May 2016, the Egyptian Authorities received information about 300 people trying to flee in a fishing boat in illegal immigration from Alexandria en-route to Europe. The security forces raided the site and arrested everyone, including Gamal Tayseer’s family, a Syrian national.

Tayseer and his family tried to flee in an endeavor to find a cure for his eyes, after his left eye became almost blind when he failed to undergo the Cataracts surgery in Egypt, while the UNHCR didn’t respond to his calls as he told the reporters.

It is worth mentioning that Tayseer has suffered from Cataracts as he grieved over his son Amr who was killed in Syria.

Aside from the story of Tayseer’s left eye which was almost blind, the reporters met 12 Syrian refugees in Egypt, who suffered from chronic health problems, but failed to get access to medical treatment after they had attempted to reach the UNHCR, while the services of the Egyptian Ministry of Health were limited to the primary consultations only, according to the cooperation protocol with the UNHCR.

This press inquiry reveals that over the past seven months, the poor health care provided to the Syrian refugees in Egypt, by the UNHCR and its partners, has exacerbated their health problems and made them suffer from permanent disabilities. Moreover, some risk their lives and flee in crammed death boats in pursuit of medical treatment in European countries.

What made things worse is that the UNHCR has donated 4.5 million dollars, equivalent to 68 million Egyptian pounds, during the period 2014-2018, to the Egyptian Ministry of Health in the form of medical support for 19 hospitals and medical centers, to improve the medical services provided to the Syrians. 

Nevertheless, during the preparation of this report, we found out that 12 of these centers are located in distant places, away from the refugees’ concentration area and that they are hard to reach.

Furthermore, the inquiry has shed more light on the poor coordination between the UNHCR and the administration of the contracting hospitals, in treating the emergent and critical cases of the Syrian refugees, as the patients are expelled out of the hospital within 48 hours, unless the UNHCR responds to cover the costs of their medical treatment.

In its report issued in February 2019, the UNHCR stated that “More than 80% of the refugees in Egypt lead a miserable life.”

The WHO Constitution requires governments to strive to create the conditions in which people can be as healthy as possible.

The first paragraph of the Article 25 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services.”

Whereas Article 18 of the Egyptian Constitution criminalizes denying any form of medical treatment to any human in emergency or life-threatening situations.

“In general, the refugees in Egypt face difficulties to get access to health and food services and financial support,” according to Tayseer al-Najjar, the head of the General Authority of the Syrian Community in Egypt. Moreover, he went to the UNHCR more than once to offer his assistance and cooperation but the UNHCR’s officials refused to meet him.

The number of Syrian refugees in Egypt is around 500.000, of whom 130.000 are registered in the UNHCR. In this respect, the UNHCR asserted that it provided 175.000 medical consultations in 2018. In 2019, the number decreased to 150.000 consultations in the field of primary health care.

An Unfortunate Trip

Jamal Tayseer (60 years) was an antique dealer and was making a decent income. But after the war broke out and the siege of his town Reef Dimashq, he fled to Egypt in late 2011, where he registered himself in the UNHCR and his wife received financial aid of 455 Egyptian pounds ($40) per month. But six months later the aid was cut off without any reason.

In 2015, Jamal’s eyes developed cataracts as a result of his grief over his son’s death. He tried to reach the Commissioner to be sent to any hospital affiliated to the UNHCR, but the Commissioner neither responded to his calls nor allowed him to enter its headquarters.

He went to a public hospital in Cairo downtown, where he had his eyes checked. After the initial examination, the doctor told him he needed urgent cataract surgery so as not to develop any complications that may lead to blindness.

“I agreed to undergo the surgery,” says Tayseer, “and they scheduled one surgery to be performed on one of my eyes every week, when I went on the scheduled time, they told me “You are a Syrian national, we cannot perform the surgery,” even though this government hospital performs this type of surgery to the Syrians and refugees as stipulated in Article 18 of the Egyptian Constitution that criminalizes denying any form of medical treatment to any human in an emergency or life-threatening situations.”

“More than 80% of the refugees in Egypt lead a miserable life.”

“Every citizen is entitled to health and to comprehensive health care with quality criteria. The state guarantees to maintain and support public health facilities that provide health services to the people, and work on enhancing their efficiency and their fair geographical distribution. The state commits to allocate a percentage of government expenditure that is no less than 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to health. The percentage will gradually increase to reach global rates. The state commits to the establishment of a comprehensive health care system for all Egyptians covering all diseases. The contribution of citizens to its subscriptions or their exemption therefrom is based on their income rates. Denying any form of medical treatment to any human in emergency or life-threatening situations is a crime. The state commits to improving the conditions of physicians, nursing staff, and health sector workers, and achieving equity for them. All health facilities and health-related products, materials, and health-related means of advertisement are subject to state oversight. The state encourages the participation of the private and public sectors in providing health care services as per the law.” According to the Egyptian Law.

Tayseer managed to save from his earnings part of the costs of the first operation, which amounted to 4800 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to 600 US dollars at the time, and borrowed the rest of the money, so that a private doctor near his residence in the 6th district, 6th of October City, would perform the surgery. He underwent the first surgery and his right eye was cured and back to normal, yet his left eye’s condition worsened and became almost totally blind.

Failing to undergo the operation on his left eye, Jamal decided to flee with his family by boat illegally to Europe. He met two people-smugglers (Nizar and Osama) and arranged everything, but the Egyptian security had been on the alert to frustrate their attempt and detained them for 20 days.

In July 2016, Jamal’s family attempted to flee again but the boat sank and they were sent back to Egypt.

Unanswered Distress Call

For four months, Abu-Sharif al-Najjar has repeatedly tried to contact the UNHCR, to schedule an interview, to demand two surgical operations for his 22-year-old nephew, Sharif, without any response.

Sharif al-Najjar’s hand was injured in the suburbs of Damascus in May 2013 by a rocket-propelled grenade. He was then taken to a field hospital near Damascus, doctors tried to save Sharif’s hand from amputation, but the shrapnel cut the ligaments and nerves, which forced doctors to amputate his hand. Subsequently, the scar was infected and caused skin deformation, so his parents took him to a doctor, who supervised his treatment, but his hand now looks like a triangle.

Despite this amputation, Sharif was required to serve in the Syrian military. He became a deserter, so he fled to Egypt, along with his family in October 2013, to begin another trip of suffering with the UNHCR.

Sharif’s family tried to contact the Commission to attach a prosthetic limb for their son several times by phone, but got no response. Moreover, they were not allowed to enter the UNHCR headquarters.

“Sharif is suffering from hand deformation and needs to get a removable artificial limb,” says Dr. Alaa Musa, an employee of the Egyptian Ministry of Health who has reviewed the case. “He also needs a surgical intervention to treat the deformities and plastic surgery at the location of the injury, so that it does not cause nervous breakdown or psychological harm.”

Abu-Sharif went to the UNHCR office at Zamalek district in central Cairo on the morning of November 4, 2019, to review the case of his nephew Sharif, as well as to apply for a renewal of residence. He entered after a four-month attempt to get an interview date, during which he repeatedly called the Commission through the hotline, which costs 1.5 Egyptian pounds per call. The meeting lasted for more than two hours.

“The staff didn’t care about my problem, didn’t hear my complaint, and they did renew my stay for 6 months, four of which have already gone by while trying to arrange a meeting,” he says, and as for the treatment of his nephew, the answer was “We don’t have this kind of treatment.”

Poor Coordination Between UNHCR and Hospitals

“Syrians should have their own hospital, so that they don’t face what my mother faced when she had an acute heart attack,” said Mahmoud Idris, recounting his mother’s suffering on a treatment journey.

The governmental hospital refused to receive Mahmoud’s mother because she is Syrian. They told him that they had nothing to do with UNHCR, although the Ministry of Health and UNHCR agreed that emergencies should be provided with 48 hours of free treatment, but he did not find that in the hospital.

Amina had a pelvic fracture 6 years ago in Syria while running with her family to escape the bombardment on Salah al-Din area in Aleppo governorate. Her children asked the Commission to provide treatment for her while issuing asylum papers. They were referred to Mahmoud hospital, which did not offer this kind of treatment. When they asked the Commission to refer them to a specialized hospital, they refused, according to her children.

In 2015, she suffered from a clot in the right ventricle, and was subsequently transferred again to a specialized hospital.

Her children tried to contact the UNHCR to get treatment for their mother, but they refused on the pretext that they were not authorized to treat such an illness. This forced them to pay 5 thousand pounds (340 dollars) per night to get her medical help.

In July 2019, Ameena suffered a complicated heart attack, and was transferred to a heart-care unit at a university hospital, because the UNHCR-contracted hospitals do not support heart surgery, according to the UNHCR Manual of December 2019, which has limited the healthcare provided to maternal and child health care, as well as primary health care (examinations) and acute and chronic disease consultations.

The operation cost about 9200 Egyptian pounds ($600) and Ameena suffered from “rapid heartbeat” or “tachycardia” after it. Her son went to a hospital not contracted with the Commission, but if refugee patients arrive, they notify the UNHCR.

The hospital doctor suggested to Ameena’s children that she could receive her treatment at home, by purchasing an oxygen cylinder and some medical equipment to continuously monitor the condition from home, after they received nursing training.

Tayseer Al-Najjar explains that the criteria adopted by the UNHCR for the selection of refugees for medical service may be theoretically correct, but in practice they are wrong, indicating that in rare cases the Commission pays part of the cost of the hospital examination, about 50 to 70 percent, while the remaining 30 percent is paid by the patient, which is equivalent to any private doctor’s fees. This way, a refugee does not benefit from the service.

Medical Suffering!

“The Commission has sent its staff four times to assess my case, and each time I’m told, “You deserve aid”, but it’s all empty talk… where’s my right?” ask Abu-Haitham, a refugee in Egypt who suffers from severe asthma, and degeneration of the joints of his feet.

Abu-Haitham entered a health center in Cairo on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, for medical examinations after he felt pain in the joints of his knees and acute asthma.

The health center is a center allocated by the Ministry of Health to receive refugees and does not need a referral from the UNHCR.

The doctor conducted an initial checkup of Abu-Haitham that showed he had excessive osteoarthritis in his feet joints, and severe asthma in his chest, which developed into a lung problem.

The doctor prescribed medicine for him, and he got it free of charge from the center’s pharmacy. After taking the medicine, his feet started to swell, resulting in bone erosion, to a point where he needed to undergo surgery to install artificial joints to allow normal movement.

Abu-Haitham suffers from five diseases (asthma, osteoarthritis, prostate enlargement, high blood pressure, and diabetes), and says he did not receive any help from the Refugee Agency, although its employees examined his condition four times at his home. The reviews acknowledged his right to disburse aid, but his reality remained unchanged.

In 2015, the Assad regime’s forces arrested Abu-Haitham and his son, took them to the “Palestine Branch” in Damascus, where they remained in detention for 20 days, after which the father was released and the son remained for 11 months, during which he was tortured.

Abu-Haitham’s sadness was not only for his son, but also for his daughter, Amani, who suffers from brain atrophy, a thyroid gland problem and malfunction of the limbs and feet.

Amani became totally handicapped and unable to move, in addition to being severely depressed because of the delay of her treatment, which the UNHCR refused to pay for, as they do not carry out such operations for refugees, according to the Health Services Guide.

The Commission referred her to Caritas for “psychiatric” treatment only, and she was offered a monthly treatment worth 450 EGP, equivalent to $30, but she has not improved because her mental illness is related to her health status, according to the psychiatrist renowned doctor at the government psychiatric hospital.

Amani needs surgical interventions to treat brain atrophy, in addition to the removal of part of the thyroid gland, and an operation to correct the hands and feet, so that they return to their normal state, so that she can continue her life like their sisters, according to Dr. Alaa Musa.

The head of the General ِAgency of the Syrian Community in Egypt says, “UNHCR does not conduct social research, through which they can get to know the living conditions of the applicant and his income, whether he or she receives regular or irregular assistance, or whether he is in debt, or perhaps they conduct incomplete research”, indicating that he who presents himself well can benefit from the services of the UNHCR.

A Placebo

When “Caritas Egypt” organization, which is the medical partner of the UNHCR, referred the Syrian refugee Mahmoud Al Qady and his son Omar to a hospital in Alexandria, that is on the list of hospitals contracted with the organization, the father was relieved, thinking that his son will receive medical care, after visiting the organization’s headquarters several times. However, when he went to the hospital, he found long queues of patients without receiving the minimum healthcare.

Mahmoud and his family fled from Reef Dimashq to Egypt through Sudan, and he now resides in El-Mandara district in Alexandria governorate. His son’s struggle with the “Duchenne muscular dystrophy” (a genetic disorder that affects all the body’s muscles) has exacerbated. His father lost hope in receiving medical treatment at the expense of the UNHCR, having visited the international organization’s headquarters many times since he arrived in Egypt in March 2016 without any response.

“During the journey of seeking refuge, Omar has lost the iron shoe that helped him move after being attacked by bandits en route to Egypt through the desert, as they seized their money and belongings,” says Mahmoud, Omar’s father.

They went to a hospital that prescribed some restoratives for Omar and recommended he would undergo physiotherapy. However, the employees in “Caritas Egypt” told the father they do not cover physiotherapy as they have no contracts with specialized hospitals.

The reporters of this press inquiry referred back to the doctors who followed Omar’s case, who said that “restoratives were useless because he needed to undergo physiotherapy; otherwise, his health situation would deteriorate to that point which poses severe threats to his life in case he undergoes an urgent surgery in his extremities to reduce muscular dystrophy, followed by physiotherapy. 

The child’s father tried to medically treat his son in the US on the expenses of the UNHCR or other organizations, but he has been waiting for a response for three years now.

Article no. 24 of the Convention on the rights of the child stipulates that: “States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to such health care services.”

The reporters of this inquiry contacted “Save The Children International,” as the organization responsible for providing children with a safe environment and because it is among the UNHCR’s partners in Egypt, to ask about Omar’s health situation and the reason why he did not receive medical treatment.

Their reply was: “After referring to the health programs at Save The Children International, we would like to confirm that Omar’s father has never contacted us before to ask for any health services. And the child’s father has been contacted and informed about the health services we provide.”

Supporting Refugees Outside their Areas of Residence

The Ministry of Health, in coordination with the UNHCR, has identified 19 public hospitals and health centers to provide services for refugees. Eight establishments of them offer primary health care services, while the other eleven hospitals are located in remote areas away from the concentration locations of the refugees.

On September 12th, 2018, the UNHCR noted that these hospitals provide primary healthcare for refugees, after receiving in-kind aid worth 4.5 million dollars in the form of medical devices and equipment, on several batches.

Furthermore, the UNHCR published a video highlighting that a range of hospitals and health centers receive refugees in coordination with the UNHCR and its partner medical associations.

However, the memorandum of understanding, MoU, signed by the UNHCR and the Egyptian Ministry of Health, has overlooked the emergency cases and surgical operations and focused only on primary healthcare.

The most striking thing in choosing the locations of the 19 hospitals and health centers was that 11 of them are remotely located away from the refugees’ concentration areas.

The statements of the UNHCR official spokesman in Egypt and a report published by the Arab Reform Initiative pointed out the areas of distribution of Syrian refugees and refugees from other nationalities as well. By comparing the refugees’ areas of distribution stated by the UNHCR spokesman and the report, with the UNHCR supported hospitals areas, the inquiry reporters concluded that refugees’ concentration areas are distributed among the 6th of October City, 10th of Ramadan City, El Obour City, Damietta, Mansoura, Hurghada, Suez, Ismailiya and Alexandria.

On the other hand, the supported hospitals are distributed in New Cairo, a medical center in the first settlement, Nasr City, Eastern Cairo district, a medical center in the 7th district, El Omraniya, a medical center in El Talbia, a medical center in Kafr Nassar, in addition to the Mental Health Secretariat hospitals, the mental health hospital in Abbassiya, Helwan Mental Health hospital in Cairo, and Maamoura Mental Health hospital in Alexandria.

The Map of the Refugees Medical Treatment in Egypt

Sharif’s father says that “the UNHCR does not respond to calls quickly, neither in emergency cases nor in ordinary cases, and thus patients may risk their lives due to red tape if they do not have enough money.”

In January 2019, the inquiry’s reporters contacted the UNHCR via email, asking questions about refugees’ help mechanisms, the reasons for the lack of coordination with hospitals, and the selection process of supported medical centers, but they did not receive any response.

This Investigation has been achieved with the support and supervision of “Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism – SIRAJ” in cooperation with “Daraj Media” and under the supervision of our colleague Ahmed Haj Hamdo.

The post Delayed Access to Medical Care… a New Chapter in the Syrians’ Agony in Egypt! appeared first on SIRAJ.

Suddenly, the Syrian girl Reem (36 years ) found herself alone in Egyptian Aswan governorate ‘streets , without any shelter or breadwinner ,after her Egyptian husband Mohammad gave up of her and denying/disavowal of her rights as a result of their “the Arfi /customary/informal “ marriage, which is undocumented at the Egyptian courts .

Reem couldn’t able for documenting her marriage contract from Mohamad because she couldn’t register her divorce from her Syrian ex-husband at the Syrian official departments.

While “The foreigners’ marriage office “ in Egypt is requiring from the foreign woman who desires to marry an Egyptian must have a civil status record clarifying her marital status, and due to Reem still married in her Syrian documents, So she couldn’t register her marriage from the Egyptian Mohamad .

Reem entered to Egypt in April 2012, after she has separated with her Syrian husband, and in the same month of the year 2014, she got married Mohamad and she lived with him at Nasir city and after that in Al Sharkia governorate, for one year and eight months.

Reem is saying that she returned back Syria to see her children , then she returned back again Egypt to find her husband disavowal of her , by a phone call telling her that he got married from Egyptian girl and he started with her a new life, and he don’t want any problems.

Reem couldn’t able for documenting her marriage contract from Mohamad because she couldn’t register her divorce from her Syrian ex-husband at the Syrian official departments.

This investigation has documented during six months stories of six Syrian refugees women, between of them Reem, who they got married from Egyptians by undocumented Arfi /customary contracts, then they were divorced after passing months of the marriage by their husbands, and the disclaimer/disavowal of all the rights, including the alimony, accommodation and joy (amount of money) and confirming/registering the marriage and children’s descent.

he Arfi/customary marriage doesn’t require only a paper signed by both parties at one of the lawyers’ office then they become spouses.

The investigation has monitored the exploitation of the Egyptians men for economical circumstances of Syrians refugees women in Egypt, and due to not having their documents to get married from them by “external ” contract, and thus this marriage will be finished from the husband’s side, and what is exacerbates the problem, the high cost which imposed by the Syrian embassy for extracting documents or amending data and the impossibility of extracting some of it.

That is happened during failure of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in its role in providing the assistance to the Syrians women. In addition inability of the Syrian & Egyptian civil society organizations which is taking care of the woman to provide actual assistance for those women, and the social outlook that accompanies women after divorce.

The woman rights after divorce in the Egyptian law:

1-The alimony: including food, clothes, accommodation and treatment expenses according to article No.1 of personal status law.

2-List of movables things: devices, furniture, value of gold, component of marriage accommodation and the advanced & deferred dowry, according to marriage contract as per articles No.10-20-15 of law No.1 of year 2000.

3-The joy (money ): it is estimated by an expenses and it can be imposed for long period at least two years ,according to article No.18 of law No.25 of year 1929 which added by law No.100 of year 1985.

Passing visa

At 8th of July 2013 , the Cairo airport authorities is returned-back plane affiliated to Syrian airlines to Syria – Lattakia governorate, by virtue of start applying the new entrance measures on Syrians , and that was the date of imposing visa and prior security approval for entering the Syrians to Egypt.

After this date for more than two years, Reem felt in longing for her children in Syria, so she traveled to see them, then she returned back in November 2016 but entering Egypt in this time was not easy, Reem surprised by imposing visa “elusive ” and that pushed her to travel to Sudan, then to Egypt by smuggling way, across the southern border.

Reem is clarifying that after her coming to Egypt she called to her husband, who in his turn has disavowed of her and has married an Egyptian woman without giving her any of her rights.

And that forced her later to resident at “Madkour” garden in Aswan governorate southern of Egypt, and she lost over there her documents including her marriage contract, until “the Syrian commission for refugees’ affairs in Egypt” has ensured her sponsorship and taking care up to date.

“We took Reem to psychiatrist in order to rehabilitate her from the shock which she is exposed to” as saying head of the commission Taysir Alnajar “.

The Reem’s story is similar with the Syrian young girl Kinda (33 years –alias) because she had to get married an Egyptian by Arfi/customary contract, because she doesn’t have the official documents to register her marriage officially, due to her entering to Egypt for the first time illegally across the Sudanese border, but the tragedy’s face in kinda’s story that she has given birth from this marriage relationship.

And she is saying that her husband left her with her infant, and he denied all of his responsibility under the pressure of his first wife, and the young girl with her infant remained without any shelter or sustenance.

Kinda arrived to Egypt in March 2014 , and had lived in one of her relatives house , then she got married in July 2017 from Ayman (alias ), who is working as a teacher in Azhari Institute, and she has divorced in June 2018, after giving birth a baby from her Egyptian husband.

who he is starting to extract new documents for her and her son before the interfering of his first wife and start to threat the lawyer to stop extracting the documents to prevent making kinda’s status legally on the Egyptian lands.

Kinda is saying that “Her husband’s wife has engaged her for him , by her will , in order to have a child , because she couldn’t have children for him but herself turned over her ” clarifying that these pressures finished after the husband divorced kinda.

And she is referring that she accepted the Arfi marriage because she wants to establish a new life and to have a house, good life, and to get rid of material pressures and the burden of staying at her relatives.

The lawyer Yousef Al -Mutani , a member of the Egyptian association for international law , is referring that ” The most prominent reasons which prevent Syrians to register their marriages in Egypt are entering some of them from Sudan by the smuggling way , due to that they cannot obtain an official entrance visa , and that make them violators on the Egyptian lands“.

The organizations inability/failure

Kinda knocked door of the organizations which are concerning in woman, some of them like “The general commission for Syrians refugees in Egypt, Syrians association, Syrian relief committee and Syriana “, but the answer was “we can’t do anything”.

Latifa Daghman head of Suriat Almaadi and Hilwan association, which is an association concerns in woman affairs & refugees integration, is saying that “we cannot do anything toward these cases, because their marriages not documented, so the official departments don’t recognize it absolutely “.

And she added “we are trying in friendly way to communicate with the husband for recovering his wife’s rights, by reactivate the religious deterrent inside him, because we have no other choice”.

Steps and costs of marriage registration for Syrian woman in Egypt:

1- Extracting of civil status record & marriage approval from the Syrian embassy cost of $ 40.

2- Power of attorney of lawyer to file lawsuit at the Egyptian family court to confirm/register the marriage in cost of between $200-500 according to the lawyer fee.

3- After obtaining a verdict in the marriage relationship, the marriage will be documented or extracting birth certificate for the child at “the civil registry “.

“we don’t interfere in like these matters , we only are providing the material, medical and psychological assistances , and in case we received any complain , we are trying to solve it by a friendly ways , in case of failure it , there is no other way ” as saying Taisyer Alnajar , Head of the Syrian commission for refugee affairs in Egypt .

Like kinda’s case, the lawyer Issam Hamed asserts, who is caring about the Syrians affairs in Egypt, that proving of her infant’s descent requires power of attorney of lawyer and file a lawsuit to confirm/register the marriage, then after it, proving of the child’s descent/ ancestry case, and she has been failed in that due to her illegal status at the Egyptian lands.

Half million Syrian refugees

According to the Egyptian president Abdel Fattah Sisi in his dialogue with French journal Le Figaro in October of 2017, the number of Syrians in Egypt reached to 500 thousands, between them 127 thousands registered at “The United Nation High Commission for Refugees’ Affairs” in Egypt according to its electronic website.

This Syrians presence in Egypt has made 10 thousands marriage status, between Egyptian man and Syrian woman in 2012, according the national statistic center for woman, and the number decreased during year of 2017.

Where the foreign marriage office which affiliated to Egyptian Ministry of Justice in registering of 472 marriage status documented at the governmental departments between Egyptian man & Syrian woman.

And at the absence the statistics about the Arfi marriage, the person who prepared this investigation tried to statistic the lawsuits number of “external” marriage which have prepared by three Egyptians lawyers at Cairo governorate.

They were chosen for their specialty in these cases, where the Egyptian lawyer Rabeh Aldaswki has worked on /200/ marriage registration suits among Syrians women and Egyptians men between years of 2016-2018 half of it have been succeeded at least until now.

while the lawyer Yousef Al – Mutani has worked on /110/ marriage registration suits during years of 2017-2018 , and while the lawyer Issam Hamed has worked on /900/ marriage registration suits among Syrians women and Egyptians men between years of 2013-2018.

The Syrian lawyer Firas Alhaj manger of the “Syrian Legal Gathering” is saying “that he is receiving daily calls for inquiring about marriage procedures and clarifying that /10 % /of these cases the husband is Egyptian, and between /60-70 %/of these cases the marriage is undocumented (not registered officially) “.

And the lawyer Issam Hamed is saying that ” 70% of the undocumented marriage cases the woman lost her rights due to the husband’s disavowal“, pointing out that he has met more than /100/ Syrian refugees woman her husband left her alone and disappeared, varied between who was divorced without obtaining her rights, and the other women who did not get the divorce, and some of them have indeed given birth and remained without registration.

The previous marriage‘s maze

“Stay at your friend ,you are divorced “a brief short call, Nadin has received – alias – (39 years old) from her Egyptian husband Amer , to finish by it a marriage life which has kept to 14 months, and Nadin was living with him in apartment at Cairo.

Nadin left her house to visit her friend in Egyptian Obour City, and during her presence over there, her husband divorced her by a phone call, under pressure from his family who was refused the marriage because Nadin was divorced, and he is a virgin and older than him in 6 years and she has a children.

Nadin is saying:”I have come to Egypt, and I has introduced to Amer(alias) by one of my friends , who was working with her in the dairy & cheese plant ,and after two weeks from our meeting , he asked me for marriage and convinced me to accept due to we both are living alone .

I accepted immediately because I was living at one of my acquaintances house in the popular Sharabiya area in Cairo, and my daughter & I were forming a burden on them”.

Amer convinced Nadin in marriage by virtue of Arfi contract, and accepted because she didn’t register her divorce with her previous Syrian husband.

Nadin is clarifying that she don’t have any acquaintances in Syria in order to file the separation lawsuit (breaking up) with her previous husband on behalf of her , and she don’t have the sufficient money for that.

During Nadin marriage with Amer she was facing a fierce opposition from his family, and she is saying that she tried to conciliate with this family but in vain until ending of the matter, by Amer’s acquiescence to his family requests and divorcing her by phone.

After the divorce Nadin tried to looking for Amer in different ways to obtain her rights, but he has changed his residency place, job and his phone number, and she is saying: “No one knows her place like a pinch of salt which has melted (proverb)”.

Nadin one of three girls who were met by the person who prepared this investigation and they have accepted the Arfi marriage due to not registering their old divorce from their husbands, one of them her husband is living with her in Egypt and he is refusing divorce her at the court before she waived to him on her owned estate (property) in Syria.

“The verbal divorce not consider a divorce until confirmation (registering) it in the court“, as was commented on this case by the Syrian lawyer Rehada Abdoush.

And Abdoush added” the Syrian woman who is living outside Syria who desires to register her divorce has to power of attorney one of her acquaintances in Syria to file the separation lawsuit on behalf of her”, clarifying the main problem in this lawsuit, that it takes a long period, it may takes three years, especially in case of insisting the husband and refusing the divorce, and it costs about /$300/ inside Syria, and /$100/ outside it, to be the total amount of /$400/.

Steps of confirmation /registering the divorce for Syrian woman in Egypt in the absence of the husband:

1- Power of attorney of one of her relative in Syria by the Syrian embassy.

2- Certifying on the powers of attorney from the Syrian & Egyptian foreign ministry.

3- The authorized person should power of attorney a lawyer.

4- File a separation suit.

5- Obtaining a separation verdict.

6- Transferring the suit from the court to the civil status registry to change the marital status from married to divorced.

Mixing /confusing the Egyptian & Syrian laws

The confusing between Syrian & Egyptian law is one of the largest problems which is facing the Syrian women during the marriage, according to the Egyptian lawyer Yousef Al – Mutani who is interested about the Syrians cases.

And he is saying:” the Syrians are getting married in their country by the proxy (sheikh), and then they register their marriage at the Sharia court.

while in Egypt there the matter is different ,where the marriage contract is concluded at the foreigners’ marriage office which affiliated to Egyptian Ministry of Justice in case of one of the spouses is foreign, or the marriage contract is concluded at a lawyer office, then power of attorney a lawyer to file a marriage confirmation/registering suit”.

And this is unknown matter by most of the Syrian in Egypt, because this method required complicated documents are:” a new civil status record its duration not exceed on three months and clarifying the marital status and documented/approved by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In addition to the wife’s guardian approval that he doesn’t mind the marriage and approved by the Syrian embassy, a valid residency, passport, in addition a two health certificates that there nothing prevents the marriage”.

Al – Mutani referred to that : there are many Syrians cannot extract a civil status record from the Syrian lands , because they don’t have relatives in Syria or that the war in Syria is hampering their movement to extract it and they don’t have choice but the Syrian embassy to extract it.

But the documents at the Syrian embassy is considers with a high cost in comparison with the economical status of most of the Syrians women in Egypt, the cost of slow passport extracting reached to /$300/,

And urgent passport cost of /$800/, while the cost of the general power of attorney is /$100/, and a residency deed/ $50 /, and that according to the Syrian embassy website in Cairo.

These prices were the main hamper in front of Kinda, who has got married by the Arfi contract because she wasn’t able to pay a lot of money for her country embassy, so that made her unable to file a lawsuit for confirmation her marriage and also for infant’s descent confirmation/registration.

In this context, Dugman asserts that:” the high costs of extracting documents from embassy form a motive at many Syrian refugees in Egypt for not extracting any documents from the embassy, and for not registering any changing in their social status, because they should pay for any obtained document, during difficult circumstances which they are living here”.

As also most of Syrians who opposite the Syrian regime don’t go to the Syrian consulates & embassies for extracting the documents.

But the lawyer Issam Hamed asserts that in case of the marriage was really happened by the Arfi contract and if the wife desired to confirm the marriage, thus “The United Nation High Commission for Refugee’s Affairs “ in Egypt will bear the cost.

And the Egyptian courts exclude condition of valid residency availability, and he is clarifying that after he has explained this point in an awareness seminar in front of Syrians women , he found that 400 hundred women asked to file a marriage confirmation/registration lawsuit , adding “they was ignorant that information”.

And the Syrian lawyer Rehada Abdoush asserts that the Syrian woman in Egypt in case if she married an Egyptian she can pursue him in a lawsuit for confirmation /registering her marriage.

$140: Not received dowry!

The Syrian woman Ahlam is living with her three children in Al Giza governorate in bad economical circumstances that prevent her & children from renewal her residency and her children residency, until she has received news of the death of her daughter’s husband in Syria.

And that necessitate her travel to Syria, to console her daughter and to be with her, and due to that she doesn’t not has a residency inside Egypt, thus in case she traveled to Syria she will not be able to return back.

“I was working in buffet/cafeteria at one of the institutions to save money for my family, until we started to leave some of the food kinds and meat for making the salary sufficient”. As Ahlam said.

The renewal of the residency transaction is costs about /550 /pounds, and in addition its Delay penalties up to/ 1053 /pounds, for the three first delaying months, and 550 pounds on every three months follow after it, thus the fines has accumulated on Ahlam and that made her unable to extract the residency.

70% of undocumented marriage cases, the woman rights are lost due the husband’s disavowal:

Ahlam went to an Egyptian lawyer called Mahmoud to help her, but he take advantaged her circumstance, to force her to marry him by Arfi contract, to assistance her in extracting residencies for her & her children, after he convinced her that this the marriage is the only way to extract the residency and he promised to help her in extracting the residences by his

acquaintances and bearing its costs.

Ahlam has agreed to marry him after closing all the ways in front of her, and she gave up all the expenses of marriage for him, even he lived in his house in October area at Al Giza.

“He took me to one of his known lawyers’ office by him, and wrote the marriage contract over there and he appointed the dowry in /1000/ Egyptian pound as an advanced dowry and /1000/ Egyptian pounds as an deferred dowry ($ 140), thus I agreed and signed the contract after he convinced me that he will save the money for marriage expenses and extracting the residences”. As Ahlam said.

The Ahlam’s Arfi (unregistered) marriage contract

After the marriage , he obtained a six months residency for her ,and that enabled her travel Syria and returning back to Egypt , and he refused to extract any residency for her children as he promised lately ,arguing that they are adults and can make money.

Ahlam is saying that:” disavowed what he promised me, and he has been coming one day a week and giving me the house expenses between /100-200/  Egyptian pounds (7-14 dollars) and he don’t pay the apartment’s rent”.

All that pushed Ahlma to ask divorce, and he divorced her without giving

her any of her rights including the advanced & deferred /2000/ Egyptian pounds dowry, then he started to threaten her to deport her with her children to Syria, if she did not send him the Arfi’s contract to prevent her obtaining of her rights.

We offered all the obtained marriage contracts regarding the Syrians women to the Egyptian lawyer Mohamad Atef , who specialized in the civil law , and he asserted that the contracts are correct, due to its containing of all data ,including names of the both contract parties , dowry and the witnesses.

(UNHCR) and the favoritisms

In front of these big difficulties which the Syrians women are confronting it, thus “United Nations High Commission for Refugees” is intervened after happening the Arfi’s marriage, where it is powering of attorney a lawyer to file a lawsuit at the court for confirming/registering the marriage and bearing the suit costs.

But in this process “the favoritisms are intervening in it, where the cases are powering of attorney to lawyers with little experience, who are not caring, but they are only filing the lawsuit on behalf the affected woman in front of the court and obtaining their fees from the UNHCR, without the actual interesting in the case details or follow up it at the courts, and that resulted not obtaining the woman her right”, as are

referring by the Syrian lawyer Firas Haj Yahia.

And Haj Yahia added that:”if the lawyer was unspecialized or with little experience, the woman loses the lawsuit, and she will lose her legal, material and literary right”. Pointing that he has met many Syrians women who they suffered from lack of lawyers’ experience.

The lawyer Yousef Al – Mutani is saying:”the foreigners’ marriage confirmation lawsuits have a special mechanism, a lot of the lawyers lose it, due to the lawyer should present a copy of Syrian Civil Status Law documented by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to the judge, to base his verdict upon its articles”.

The lawyer Issam Hamed asserts that more than 70% of the marriage confirmation lawsuits for Syrians women which he has worked on it, he was as the second lawyer in it, after failure of the previous lawyers.

We asked many questions to the UNHCR, about its procedures in case if it is received a complaint from a woman married by Arfi’s contract, and the provided assistance from it, and if it can provide assistance in extracting the documents, but we have not been received any respond up to moment of publishing the investigation.

Since her entering illegally to Egypt in the last of 2016 until now, Reem still does not know which road to walk in, due to the psychological & physical shock which she has exposed to it, and she has been perplexed in returning back to her country for living in it, which the war are grinding it, or staying in a strange country, her husband abandoned her in it, after she has been passed a long distances at the desert between Egypt & Sudan for reaching it.

*This investigation was conducted under supervision of the Syrian Investigative Reporting Unit – SIRAJ. Published on DARAJ.

The post “Temporary wife” appeared first on SIRAJ.