The two Syrian women did not know that the virus will expose them and their unborn babies to new dangers.

Fatima lives with her family in Rokban Syrian refugees’ camp, in the south east of Syria, an area that was secluded from the world when the camp was established six years ago, locked up between the Jordanian borders, an American military base, and Russian “humanitarian” crossings.

Fatima had no idea where she could give birth to her baby, after the Jordanian authorities closed the sole medical facility inside Jordan’s borders, as one of the measures for fighting Coronavirus.

Simultaneously, Ro’aa was afraid that her baby might need a ventilator, not available in Idlib, while the Turkish authorities have suspended receiving “medical emergency cases” from Syria, also in context of Coronavirus preventive measures.

This happens while the lockdown measures have exacerbated the already tragic situation of Syrian pregnant women in camps, with insufficient basic healthcare.

Coronavirus has weighed heavily on pregnant women throughout Syrian areas, especially the most fragile in terms of healthcare and food availability, in refugees’ camps inside Syria. Hence the idea to investigate and shed light on this situation.

According to a physician in the city of Hassaka, the most dangerous impact of the virus in the case of a pregnant woman is due to that she already suffers shortness of breath, during pregnancy, thus being infected with the virus endangers her body further, causing her to have less immunity compared to non-pregnant women. This problem is exacerbated by the difficult access to hospitals.

Throughout the recent years, the role of the medical facility on Jordan’s borders was to transfer critical cases from Rokban camp, including pregnant women who need c-section operations or healthcare, to the hospitals in Jordan. This was also the case with newborns in need of NICUs, phototherapy for jaundice or ventilators.

On the other side of the country, pregnant women in northern Syria continue to fear for their newborns’ lives in case they needed medical care, while it is difficult to transfer such cases to Turkey in the time of the virus.

“Where will I give birth?”

“Where will I give birth?” Fatima, pregnant in her seventh month, and living in Rokban camp, keeps asking. “Following the suffering of women during delivery is harder than experiencing the danger itself. I see my destiny in these women who need c-sections and have nowhere to give birth.”

“I fear any scenario in which I need a c-section or my newborn needs healthcare, or an NICU,” she adds, “In such cases either me or my newborn will die.”

Fatima, who hails from Homs province, suffers from lack of basic food. She does not eat fruit, and she gets no medicine, vitamins, or food supplements, while the follow-up of her pregnancy is provided in the “Tadmor medical post” inside the camp, which lacks the requirements of basic medical care.

During her last doctor’s visit, before Coronavirus lockdown was imposed, Narmeen was told she has anemia, and her baby suffered from malnutrition. He prescribed some medicine for her, but she could not afford to buy them

We obtained photos of Tadmor medical post, which is built of mud with few rooms, containing worn out furniture thrown on the floor, besides some first aid kits. It is obvious that the post is not fit for any medical procedures. Medicine is scarce and delivered through smuggling while not enough for pregnant women needs.

On April 11th, the “Public and Political Relations Authority in the Syrian Desert,” made a call for help to the government of the United States of America via the military base in Tanaf, after the siege of the camp was tightened.

The authority spoke, in a statement, of the food and health crises due to the UNICEF post having been shut down, and the Syrian regime siege of the camp. “The people of the camp face a health crisis, as several pregnant women need c-sections, with no means to provide any, because of closing the camps, and the inability of pregnant women to go to the territory of regime forces, for security reasons, fearing detention” said the authority concerning the pregnant women.

The authority requested from the US immediate aid through the Global Coalition forces in area 55, and to save the lives of mothers and their children.

Giving birth in the military base

Last April, two Syrian women had to go to the American military base in Tanaf to have c-sections, it was the only option they had.

According to what the British newspaper The Times, the officer physician in charge in the base was not specialized in delivery, and knew little about it, but he carried out the c-sections. He was helped by a colleague monitoring the operation throw video conference from the US.

On his side, Shokri Shehab, the manager of Tadmor medical post, which is under the authority of the Council of Tadmor and Syrian Desert Clans, has pointed out that two experienced midwives from the camp accompanied the two women in the military base during the c-sections.

“There are 30 to 40 deliveries in the camp monthly,” Shehab says, “we used to refer them to the UNICEF post, which in turn transferred the women to Jordan’s hospitals.”

The UNICEF post used to follow-up pregnancies, and provide pregnant women with medicine and food supplements, in addition to transferring newborns in need of NICUs and phototherapy to hospitals in Jordan, while natural deliveries and caring for pregnant women were carried out in Tadmor medical post inside the camp and under the supervision of the only two midwives there.

In his turn, Shehab emphasizes that Tadmor post is not ideal, but it is the only one available under the current conditions, pointing out the damage inflicted on pregnant women after the closure of the UNICEF post, especially that there is not a single physician in the camp housing 11,000 civilians.

“Even if the UNICEF post is reopened,” he continues “its working hours used to be from 9:00 AM till 3:00 PM, and no emergency cases were admitted out of these hours.”

Concerning the camp’s needs when it comes to pregnant women and newborns, Shehab explains that there is an urgent need for oxygen devices in the least, for reviving newborns who are short breathed, so as not to consider their death inevitable.

Like the medical siege the camp faces a total siege as entry of relief aids is totally forbidden, thus depriving civilians in the camp from vegetables, fruits, and basic foods besides wheat and flour, which are smuggled into the camp. Accordingly, pregnant women do not have enough nourishment, which increases the probability of their newborns needing NICUS.

Jordan’s response was quite clear concerning the reopening of the border’s UNICEF post. As per Ayman Al- Safadi, the Jordanian minster of foreign affairs, his country will not allow any relief aid into the camp through its territories, nor will it allow the entry of any person form the camp to Jordan’s territory.

“Protecting citizens from the Coronavirus pandemic is an extreme priority for Jordan.” Said Al-Safadi in a phone call with the UN special envoy to Syria, emphasizing that the responsibility of Rokban’s camp is both Syrian and international, as it houses Syrian citizens on Syrian lands.

He also explained that any humanitarian or medical aids needed by the camp can enter through Syrian inlands, emphasizing the necessity of international cooperation for obtaining a political resolution in Syria.

Newborns in danger

In Northern Syria, under opposition control, there are other kinds of fears. It is true that the hospitals and doctors there are capable of carrying out c-sections and natural deliveries, but in case of any health emergency for the mother or the baby, or the last being in need for NICU, everybody becomes helpless in face of the inevitable end.

Previously, newborns in need of NICUs, phototherapy or any other healthcare measures unavailable in northern Syria, used to be transferred to Turkey through land border crossings which are Grables, Bab Alhawa, and Bab Assalama.

As Jordan and Turkey close their borders to all travel, pregnant Syrian women needing C-Sections find themselves helpless and at risk. Documenting stories from pregnant Syrian women besieged by Coronavirus

Turkish authorities have recorded the first Coronavirus case last March 11th. After two days only, the Turkish authorities closed Bab Alhawa crossing in the face of civilians, while admitting only commercial and aid trucks, in addition to first aid emergency cases, as per a statement by the crossing officials.

After six days, the Turkish authorities closed both Bab Assalama and Alraie crossings, completely, while allowing the entry of medical emergency cases.

This however did not last, on March 26th, Turkey stopped the entry of medical cases as well, including the newborns who need NICUs or ventilators.

“The Turkish side stopped receiving medical first aid cases,” said PR official in Bab Alhawa crossing, Mazen Allosh, “causing a health care crisis in northern Syria.”

According to data on Bab Alhawa crossing’s website, more than 10,000 patients have entered Turkey through this crossing alone in 2019, coming from the Syrian north, and including 3942 first aid cases, with newborns and mothers among them.

In the first three months of the year, about 900 first aid cases have entered Turkey through the same crossing, aside from other crossings that admitted patients.

Vulnerability of medical infrastructure

Doctor Nazieh Alghawi points out the absence of statistics of the number of NICUs or ventilators inside Syria, explaining that there is “extreme and dire shortage” of these devices, according to his own follow-up of NICUs issue through “coordination rooms of the Syrian north doctors,” while the demand for these devices escalates due to the increasing number of newborns needing them.

Alghawi adds that babies born after 28 weeks of pregnancy are considered premature, such babies need NICUs to keep them worm and pulse and oxidation monitoring devices, besides ventilators and in sleep short breath monitoring.

He adds that newborns in need of NICUs are those whose medical conditions are not good due to having blue skin color, premature moaning, difficulties of breathing, rib suctions, or incomplete growth inside the womb.

Phototherapy, is needed if the newborn has an extreme case of jaundice, as failing to treat such newborn might lead to brain paralysis or atrophy.

The same doctor has emphasized the crossing closure “catastrophic impact” on pregnant women and newborns in northern Syria, pointing out that the closure was comprehensive leaving no exceptions even for medical aid cases, in time when the number of newborns who need to be immediately transferred to Turkey is increasing.

The doctor has also explained the medical conditions of newborns in northern Syria in time of Coronavirus, “the region began to be short on medicines, depriving patient from obtaining them for free. We also need beds, operation rooms, and intensive care units, both for newborns and adults.” He said.

One of the problems caused by the Coronavirus crisis, is malnutrition of pregnant women and newborns, and lack of food supplements which impact newborns’ health.

On her side, doctor Nagwan, head of pediatric division in motherhood hospital, warned that “continuing closure of the crossings will increase mortality rates of those who could have been saved in Turkey. It will also exacerbate the shortage of supplies in Syrian hospitals.”

Pregnant women in camps: Coronavirus exacerbated our tragedy!

Roba Al’ali, a Syrian woman living in Tell Al’aawar for refugees in Idlib countryside, spoke of her suffering as a pregnant woman inside the camp in the time of the Coronavirus.

“I have so many fears,” she says, “there are no places to sit or sleep comfortably inside the tent. I cannot get physical comfort during pregnancy. I also have no private space or clean and safe WCs.” Explaining that it would be catastrophic in case of the virus spread to the area.

Roba has also spoke of the absence of hospitals, thus most cases must be transferred outside the camp. She complained that while the pregnant woman and her newborn have vulnerable immunity, those in camps have even more vulnerable immunity due to lack of suitable food and the weak disease preventive measures.

On the other side, Sarah Ahmed, who lives in Frekeh camp in Idlib says: “we live under hard conditions in the camp. During my pregnancy, I have not had suitable food that pregnant women usually have, due to my husband being out of work and having no income, after the spread of Coronavirus.”

Sarah speaks of being afraid of the virus every time she has high temperature or short breath. She fears that her baby might catch the virus. Such fears affect the pregnant woman as well as her baby’s health, as the specialist doctor, Ro’aa Abbas points out.

Because of her husband being out of work, Sarah will not be able to give birth in a hospital that provides suitable services. She will give birth in one of the public hospitals, as she mentions. Such hospitals are far from the camp, which puts her in great physical dangers during moving in and out of the camp.

“I have not given birth yet,” she adds “but I have watched women giving birth inside the camp, and their suffering of diseases due to the living conditions unsuitable for a mother and her newborn.”

About Coronavirus and her pregnancy, Sarah says: “The hardest thing is the absence of isolations centers or a quarantine inside the camp. The population is large, making the tent unsafe during the pandemic time, which causes me to be worried all the time.”

On her side, Shaza Almostafa, a licensed midwife, says: “since the fears of the Coronavirus spread has started, many healthcare centers were closed, which negatively impacted the pregnant women. Two weeks ago, however, and till now, some centers reopened their doors, and pregnant women are coming back to them for healthcare.” She explains that she does not know the reason behind civilians losing their fears, though the danger of the virus still exists.

Almostafa points out that a newborn, also needs vaccines, but these were not available since the beginning of the Coronavirus time in northern Syria. They are gradually becoming available, now. Almostafa explains that in the fears period climax, pregnant women were not able to enter hospitals and medical centers except for extreme emergencies and under sterilization measures. Many pregnant and lactating women, going to hospital periodically for healthcare and free medicines, were deprived of this due to the closure of most centers.

Fear, then fear

In northeast Syria, under “self-administration,” there has been no siege by any party, but this did not reflect positively on pregnant women.

On March 23rd, the administration enforced a curfew throughout its territories, to prevent the spread of the virus.

Due to the continuous fears of infection, Mona was forced into having a c-section during the pandemic, thus staying under treatment for a whole month after delivery.

“During my pregnancy, I did not know if hospitals would admit me or not,” says Mona “I kept asking my doctor to come to the hospital to follow-up my pregnancy, but she refused to come unless there was an emergency delivery.”

When Mona felt the time for delivery approaching, it was 4:00 AM in the morning, she tried to postpone going to the hospital, fearing infection by the virus, which led to her being forced to have a c-section. Her doctor told her that natural delivery would harm the baby.

A week after giving birth, Mona was not feeling well. The surgery’s pain and postnatal problems continued. She called her doctor, but her number was out of coverage and her clinic was naturally closed because of the curfew. When Mona’s condition got worse, she was transferred to Faraman hospital in Qameshli town in Hasaka governorate.

In the hospital, the doctor carried out an examination that revealed her need for a womb cleaning, as her wound was infected. She got several medicines, but after three days she did not get better. She called her doctor again, asking her to come back to the hospital regardless the fears of the virus infection. It turned out that the wound infections are getting worse, and Mona is still under treatment after 16 days of delivery.

Mona explains that if not for the lockdown, she would have been able to have her pregnancy followed-up properly avoiding all these problems.

Pregnant women malnutrition

Last delivery for Wi’am (pseudo name), who lives in Ras Al’ain, was ten years ago. She has three children, who were all born through c-sections, but she did not know that when she got pregnant once again, she will go through all these hardships.

During her pregnancy, Wi’am had to move to Ras Al’ain town. Her husband lost his job as a cap driver on the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, in parallel with a devaluation of Syrian lira, and rising prices of all commodities and goods in Syria, which deprived her of the most basic food needs, leading eventually to her newborn suffering lack of oxygen.

“I was scared in the hospital,” Wi’am says, “I could not touch anything. Nobody came to visit me because of the lockdown measures and the fear of the virus.”

She adds that after giving birth, she had to drink large quantities of tea, with bread, though her body needed better food, because the shops were closed.

With her delivery approaching, Narmeen (false name) also worries about the after giving birth expenses, because her husband lost his job.

“I think of babies’ milk, and diapers whose prices are becoming extremely high,” Narmeen says, “I will need babies’ milk because I have anemia which makes me unable to breast feed my baby.”

She adds: “My husband lost his job, which affected my condition as a pregnant woman. I did not have fruit for a long time, and I do not get the healthcare essential for pregnant women because of their high high price.”

In her last visit to her doctor, before lockdown was imposed, Narmeen was told she has anemia, and her baby suffered from malnutrition. He prescribed some medicines for her, but she could not afford to buy them.

Doctor Manal Mohamed, the co-director of health authority in Syrian Jazeera, points out that “the virus cannot penetrate the placenta; thus, it cannot affect the baby in mother’s womb.”

He explains that in the hospitals of “self-administration” territories, some operation rooms were set aside for natural delivery and c-sections during the time of the Coronavirus pandemic. But this is not true for all areas. Some villages have no medical centers specialized in delivery and pregnancy follow-up.

On her side, Marwa Abbas, an Obstetrician and Gynecologist, reveals that the clinics are closed throughout the curfew time. She follows-up pregnancies on phone and through internet social media applications, which deprives the pregnant woman of being monitored using the echo device.

She explains that the baby gets its nourishment from its mother’s body once it is attached to the womb, so the mother needs focus and organization of feeding, which most of the pregnant women were denied during to Coronavirus time, along with access to hospitals.

She adds that the virus is more dangerous for pregnant women compared to others as pregnancy jeopardizes their immunity, which shows in fatigue and nausea suffered by pregnant women because of low immunity.

The Syrian Investigative Reporting for Accountability Journalism (SIRAJ)

The post “Where Will I Give Birth?” Documenting Stories of Syrian Women Besieged by Coronavirus 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.