VZCZCXRO9083
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHEG #2805/01 2600929
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170929Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6908
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 002805 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ECON PHUM PREF EG IZ
SUBJECT: IRAQIS IN EGYPT FACE CHALLENGES OBTAINING 
SERVICES, JOBS 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Iraqis in Egypt are finding it difficult 
to obtain education, health services and job opportunities. 
More established Iraqi residents are depleting their savings, 
and newer arrivals are less wealthy than their predecessors. 
Although the GOE is publicly committed to providing 
education, health and housing services to the approximately 
150,000 Iraqis in Egypt, Iraqis say that GOE restrictions on 
public services, especially education and health, are having 
a negative impact as more Iraqis continue to arrive. 
Egyptians, on the other hand, say that resentment towards 
Iraqis is building over competition in a tight domestic job 
market and rising real estate prices partially attributable 
to Iraqi demand for housing.  MFA contacts argue that Iraqis 
in Egypt do not face hardships beyond those that Egyptians 
face, and thus do not deserve "extra" services from the 
government.  End summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Who Are Iraqis In Egypt? 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Initially, the Iraqis who began coming to Egypt to 
escape a deteriorating security situation were relatively 
wealthy, according to UNHCR/Cairo.  They were able to buy 
property in Egypt, which under Egyptian law gives them local 
residency status, allowing them to work and enroll their 
children in Egyptian public schools.  Although public health 
care is reserved for Egyptians, Iraqis were wealthy enough to 
obtain care at private facilities. 
 
¶3. (SBU) As the conflict in Iraq has continued, however, 
newer arrivals are often less wealthy, and those who have 
been in Egypt for several years have begun to deplete their 
funds, according to Barbara Harrel, professor of Forced 
Migration and Refugees Studies at the American University in 
Cairo (AUC).  Harrel told Pol LES, and UNHCR confirmed, that 
these newer arrivals are increasingly registering with UNHCR 
to obtain refugee status.  Although this does not allow them 
to work, it does allow them to enroll their children in 
Egyptian public schools.  However, of an estimated 150,000 
Iraqis in Egypt, UNHCR has registered only approximately 
10,000.  (Note: The MFA estimates the number of Iraqi 
refugees as between 40,000 and 50,000.  End note.) 
 
---------------------------------- 
In Practice, Barriers to Education 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ray Jureidini, AUC Professor of Refugee Studies, 
told pol LES that access to education is the biggest concern 
for Iraqis in Egypt.  UNHCR unofficially estimates that 
30,000 Iraqi primary- secondary- and university-aged students 
are seeking education in a system struggling to accommodate 
even Egyptian student enrollment.  Only 800 Iraqis are 
enrolled in Egyptian public schools, and only 4000 in 
private, primary and secondary schools, according to MFA 
Deputy Assistant Minister for Arab Affairs Hany Khallaf and 
Assistant Minister for Refugees Tarek El Maaty.  Although 
Iraqis can attend public schools if they have Egyptian 
citizenship or UNHCR refugee status, Iraqi parents told pol 
LES that in practice their children are often rejected to 
make room for Egyptian students.  Private schools, on the 
other hand, are wary of enrolling Iraqis for fear they might 
not be able to pay, according to a teacher at a private Cairo 
secondary school.  At the university level, non-Egyptians pay 
between LE 2820 (USD 500) and LE 8460 (USD 1500) a year to 
attend public universities that charge Egyptians a mere LE 
100 (USD 18), although an explosion of private universities 
in Egypt has made university education more accessible to the 
well-off. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Religious differences are also creating barriers to 
education.  Shiite Iraqi parents complain that Islamic 
studies, obligatory through high school, are taught only from 
the Sunni perspective.  They also say that Egyptian schools 
do not allocate special prayer areas for Shiites. 
Highlighting this issue, the GOE refused to give permission 
when approximately 7000 Iraqi Shiites requested to build a 
Shiite Mosque in 6 of October City last June, according to 
local press.  Iraqis reportedly based their request on 
Article 46 of the Egyptian Constitution, which states that 
"the state shall guarantee the freedom of belief and the 
freedom of practice of religious rites." 
 
------ 
Health 
------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The government provides free public health insurance 
 
CAIRO 00002805  002 OF 002 
 
 
for Egyptian nationals; foreigners in Egypt must obtain 
private insurance and cannot go to public Egyptian hospitals 
except in emergencies.  One Iraqi bakery owner complained 
that private clinics are very expensive for Iraqis in Cairo; 
in comparison to LE 10 (USD 1.80) per check-up at a public 
clinic, even a basic physical at a private clinic costs on 
average 30 LE (USD 5.30). 
 
--------------------------------- 
Egyptians Annoyed at Iraqi Influx 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Anecdotal information indicates that some Egyptians 
are resentful about increasing competition for jobs and 
housing from Iraqis.  Unemployment in Egypt remains high, and 
Egyptian engineers, technicians, and grocers have told us 
that a continuing influx of Iraqis is further straining the 
labor market.  Although only Iraqis with local residency 
status can work officially, in practice anyone can work in 
Egypt's large informal economy.  Iraqi university students 
told Pol LES that they will work for "half a salary" if it 
helps them to stay in Egypt.  Regarding housing, a Cairo 
private contractor and real estate professional opined that 
Egyptian homebuyers are resentful over the perception that 
Iraqis, living mostly in middle-class Cairo neighborhoods, 
have contributed to higher real estate prices. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
Official Egyptian Response: It's Not So Bad 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) El Maaty contended that Iraqis in Egypt do not face 
hardships beyond those of ordinary Egyptians, and thus the 
GOE need not provide them special services.  Khallaf told 
local press that the GOE currently has no plans to ask the 
international community for financial assistance for Iraqi 
refugees.  Though providing little in services, Egypt has 
made it a practice not to deport unregistered Iraqis, 
according to Jureidini and UNHCR/Cairo, and instead regularly 
refers them to UNHCR for help and to issue them refugee 
cards.  UNHCR/Cairo also automatically renews the nine-month 
term of refugee status for all Iraqis in Egypt registered 
with UNHCR. 
RICCIARDONE